Journals of the Fellowship Without Name
by Turrin379
Summary: Mellaris Uldreiyn is a troubled Elf Ranger with a military past containing no fond memories to speak of. After a fortunate escape from abusive officers and the untimely death of his brother Drahl, he finds himself working among a small trading caravan when deadly adventures arrive their doorstep. (Journal entries written about my weekly D&D group's antics.)
1. Some Undead and a Manor Lord

**Journal entry number 1 by Mellaris Uldreiyn, stereotypical Elf ranger!**

 _Entry I_

 _10/25/2015_

 _Until last night I was_ _part of the guard of an important trading caravan. Thanks to some ignoramus I won't name, I got cut off along with my other five colleagues, and now I'm stuck in a dingy tavern with the lot of them. We're all sitting around a table for the sole purpose of filling our guts, and no one is too talkative, except for -_

 _Ruby the Wizard. She seems to me like your stereotypical overzealous performer. Definitely too outgoing for her own good, and she talks way too much._

 _Ko'ruk is some form of half-orc that's had his eyes glued to me for the last half-hour. He keeps drumming the hilt of his greatsword that's leaned against the table's rim... I'm not sure if he wants to throw it at me or ask me a question._

 _Ellie, a half-elf Rogue, is mostly keeping to herself. She's not passive - her eyes have been darting across the room any time I've thrown her a glance, and it's almost as if she's eating her food in a disarming manner._

 _Melek is a Dwarf paladin that certainly seems the most… respectable of the six of us. He's made occasional small talk with Tom, the friendly tavern keeper, and is the only one of us without a drink in his hand._

 _Juniper has been mostly quiet from the very beginning. From what I can tell, she's a druid of some kind, but I haven't been able to get a read on her personality traits… Perhaps we have the most in common._

 _Ko'ruk the angry half-orc starts asking me some surprisingly personal questions about my past and the Grimvald. I manage to dodge around a complete answer but before things escalate, an older man busts through the door, falls to the ground with an arrow in his back and dies_ _. He's followed by a pair of angry looking skeletons._

 _The skeletons go down fairly easily in the face of six warriors, but after sticking my head out the window I notice… oh._

 _Well, the whole village is_ _on fire and more undead bone-walkers are clattering down the street in search of victims. Tom, the friendly barkeeper, hands us a healing potion and suggests we go bail out lord Chumley from the village manor. It's not something I'm_ _too enthusiastic about, but Ellie suggests there may be payment waiting in the aftermath._

 _The road to Chumley's manner is also_ _conveniently teeming with skeletons. One of them lands a nearly mortal blow on Ruby the Wizard, but I managed to pick him off before things got much worse. Ko'ruk barrels in - like the mindless tank he is - and cleaves a second clean in two, and the third falls after a shot from me and another swift kick from the half-orc._

 _To get to the manner I have to stealth ahead to make sure the coast is clear. It's not. Skeletons are clattering straight towards me. Before I have the chance to turn tail and run, however, Ko'ruk throws_ _Melek the Dwarf 20 yards up, who then manages to rush to my aid. Just as I turn my back to escape, an arrow strikes just under my collarbone, leaving me breathless and dizzy with pain. Luckily a nearby house has a fragile window, which I quickly shatter to duck and hide. The surprised old man is reluctant to house me as the others fight it out, but it ends right away as I safely throw the door open and feather the last skeleton in the forehead._

 _After that, we make it to the manor fairly easily. We all have a quick look around, but no one spots anything noticeably dangerous. Melek the Dwarf kicks the door down - the first longhall is fortunately empty. There's a fancy suit of armor on the wall that seems fishy to Ruby, so Ko'ruk (in his rich wisdom) punches it. It_ _punches back_ _. I'm nearby enough to deal it a pair of scimitar slices upon reflex, after which we pretty much dogpile the thing and it goes down eventually._

 _Immediately following the incident I notice the wall by the staircase is a different color - probably a secret door. Melek bashes it in with his hammer and Ellie darts in silently to check it out._

 _What's inside is somewhat surprising and somewhat not at all - there's an altar to some sort of demon-god and a letter to the lord of the manor - apparently he's being paid for a smuggling job and being told by his employers not_ _to go overboard with necromancy._

 _Well, now we know where all these skeletons came from - I should've known it was a high-up stuffy town lord. No surprise there - typical, even._

 _Back in the main room, we open a side door and whiff at a skeleton about 3,000 times before I shoot it down through the eye-socket. The butler's bed in another room is covered with blood and we split his life savings of 60g between us. Up the stairs Ko'ruk spies Lord Chumley standing over a huge ogre corpse - the half-orc tries to stealth throw his javelin, catching the lord in the shoulder - and unfortunately rousing the ogre. The whole rest of the party works on taking the massive thing down - I go to disable Chumley by hitting his foot, but miss and graze his side._

 _After a grueling fight the ogre falls, and Ruby manages to charm the man and we get some answers out of him. He doesn't know who his employer is, just that they always sign letters with a "W". He says he spawned skeletons on the village "because it seemed like a good idea at the time", as if I needed any more reason to hate these types of unbelievably ignorant nobles._

 _In the end, the town guard arrives and we hand Chumley over to be taken to justice. We're given a letter of recommendation for the city guard by the captain. Seeing as that's a guaranteed money source and we're all in need of some at the moment…_

 _...We're headed for Spindlestone City._


	2. The Underground of Spindlestone

Entry II

11/1/2015

28th Springmorn 2021, New Reckoning

The next morning, we finally head north to Spindlestone. Immediately upon entry Ruby insists she take the lead throughout her own hometown, but we instead decide to split up and shop at first, so I take off with Melek the dwarf to the stables - he says he likes animals. Unimpressed with their immediate options, he makes an order for a battle ram that he can ride - the owner says it'll come in about a week.

Next we go to the magic shop where we run into Juniper and Ruby and I buy a potion of healing for 50g (I never know when I'll take another arrow in the shoulder).

That evening things start getting interesting. A young lord on a horse nearly tramples Juniper and Ko'ruk - obviously I'm not happy with this and tackle him to the ground before he can casually stumble away. This little scuffle gets the attention of the city's guard. From what I can tell, this is an apparently wealthy and influential man who can get away with anything due to his own status (not sorry I roughed him up).

As it now looks like I'm about to get in trouble, Ruby attempts to charm the guard and fails. Now she and Melek have just been arrested and Juniper and Ko'ruk are in the hospital after getting stepped on by the man's steed. I managed to disappear amidst the chaos, and Ellie also conveniently vanished off to somewhere I'm not sure of.

After the commotion's died down, I decide to head to the jail and see what I can do. A guard spots me sneaking around the prison area - unfortunately he doesn't suspect me of much. I play innocent and ask the guard what bail is - I can't afford it. With that, I'm not too interested in taking on the garrison alone, so I'm off to find out what Ellie's doing.

I find her and sit in on her date with Vinnie, a "perfectly legitimate businessman" who seems interested in the dangerous poison she's been carrying. According to this man, the drunk guy on the horse was Lord Chase - the head of a small council of noblemen, who used to have quite a bit of political power, but have recently lost much of it to Spindlestone's Protectress Redcloak. At our request, he sends his very large friend "Louie" to pay Chase a visit. Halfway through our important conversation, however, a group of royal looking guards enter the tavern and ask (in a quite entitled tone) for a half-elf named "Ellieri". It's obvious to they're talking about Ellie, who suddenly looks suspiciously nervous and his covering her ears under her hair. I could turn her in if I felt like it, but fortunately for her I'm not a big fan of royal officers either. They reluctantly leave after getting no response from anyone in the building.

The evening ends, Vinnie gives Ellie a gentlemanly kiss on the hand after walking us to a hotel, and we spend the night there.

The next morning, the rest of our party arrives. Apparently they've been talking with Redcloak, the protectress of the city. It's certainly a fortunate leap after being thrown in jail, but I decide to accept our circumstances without asking questions. Long story short, Redcloak has contracted us to investigate the sewers today.

After checking a few rooms, Ellie lockpicks one open and we run into some… _reanimated severed hands._

Looks like this adventure's gonna be a weird one.

They're surprisingly agile, leaping to claw at our faces with much fiercer speed than we expected. The first one goes down when Ko'ruk reduces it to bone-jelly with his greatsword, and after we get rid of them all, we notice a chest in the room. It's definitely trapped, and Ellie disarms it, at which point we find a full bottle of " _tears of the night",_ the same drug we found at the manor, and a "W" burned into the bottom. We bolt quickly out of that room to find some zombies shambling towards us.

At least these are enemies we know how to deal with. Ko'ruk and Melek do most of the heavy hitting (as to be expected), and Ruby delivers the final blow with a massive pillar of flames. Just as we think it's over, though, another pair of zombies barrel in with another disembodied hand. Ellie shivs the claw handily with her rapier and Ko'ruk and Melek take care of the rest mostly on their own.

Around the next corner we have a nasty encounter with some huge spiders, but we manage to get out alive with some heavy hits from Ko'ruk and Melek and a final shot from myself.

Next room we find some men huddled and mumbling eerily - crying tears that appear to be colored _silver_. Ruby figures they've been drinking tears of the night - that drug we keep finding here and there. I may have been wrong about the wizard - she seems to know her way around much more efficiently than I previously thought.

We enter a cavern past the two men and run into a shady thug who says we should "fight him at his own peril". After we refuse to do so and try to get some answers out of him, he says " _Wanda can be found where the sewer flows into the sea"_.

After _that_ guy disappears with no explanation, we go to investigate yet another creepy altar in the room - just like the one Lord Chumley had. Just as before, there's a bloody knife at the altar's base.

As we keep moving, following a trail of seaweed in response to the man's clue, we find a large drop-off where there's strong flowing water at the bottom. We tie a rope to a torch sconce and Ko'ruk carefully climbs down - calling back to us that the water's quite deep. After he climbs back, the party decides to waste some precious time deciding how to get down there safely. Ruby can't freeze the water, and it looks to me like there's no way to avoid the water.

While the rest of the group quarrels, Ko'ruk and I eye each other, for once thinking the same thing. Wanting to waste no further time, we both take the plunge together.

Unfortunately the current is strong and the water's cold - despite my best efforts, I'm swept away in the tide, and fall unconscious when I feel a sharp blow to my head.

The next thing I know I'm leaning against some kind of rock with my hands tied behind my back- I don't know how long it's been, and I can hear fighting just several yards in front of me, but I can't yet make out what's going on. I strain at the ropes for several seconds and eventually manage to get them undone due to a clumsily tied knot and my nimble elf-fingers. I can now make out what looks like some sort of two-legged hag creature running towards - oh hey, it's trying to kill Melek.

I quickly draw my bow, but before I can get a shot off, the hideous creature dies to a pillar of flame that Ruby threw. With that long fight over with (I was apparently unconscious for some time) and the party all conveniently being right where I woke up, we find evidence of some sort of major operation going on in this cavern. There are chests branded with a "W", but the "W" (in many cases) has been branded _over_ some other symbol. Some are of the same dark god we found altars of, and some are just a skull. Ruby (again, a surprising observation from the wizard) notices that the skull is the symbol of Gwyn, king of the night - a lawful evil spirit and master of death.

So it would appear that two spiritual realms have joined forces together with this hag - which was of the same species as Gwyn.

And, of course we can't leave empty-handed. Inside another chest we find 750 gold and 700 silver Elvish Lüra along with several other gemstones. After this we're on our way back to the surface to find Vinnie and Lady Redcloak to talk about what we've found.

Vinnie pays us a small fortune for the drugs we brought him.

Lady Redcloak offers another job - in the dark forests of Grimvald, where I suppose we're headed next. Ko'ruk seems to be looking forward to it.

...I'm certainly not.


	3. The Goblins of Grimvald

Mellaris Uldreiyn  
Entry III  
10th Midspring, 2021 (New Reckoning) [11/8/2015]

Melek received his mail-order ram right before we left the city. As we're eating in the same tavern the night before, a very regal looking man wearing a cloak approaches us, saying he's here on behalf of Lady Redcloak. The very first things he makes note of (in his irritating highborn accent) is how "expendable" we are to RedCloak - and he essentially tells us we'll be given a riverboat to make our way northeast to look for some lost wizards that were in RedCloak's service. The others simply nod, accepting the job as given, while I pull my hood over my head in a simple attempt to keep quiet. The thing that gets to me is that this man speaks as if we have no other option. We've barely even started working for these stuffy nobles, and already they're treating us as expendable pawns. If it were up to me, I'd throw RedCloak a set of harsh words and be off to make my own living.  
The rest of the party, however, does not share the same hard feelings towards these royals as I do. The voyage sets out the morning after - we only get in a few hours of sailing before - just as our fantastic luck would have it - a giant squid tentacle protrudes from the river and lays itself upon our craft. My bow is out and drawn back it a fraction of a second, and metal sounds ring out as the rest of the party draws their own weapons - only when the tentacle is ripped apart by some other unknown monster, which reveals itself to be Podrick the pleziosaurus. We rescued him from the weird hag thing last week, and I forgot to mention it (My head was still spinning after having been knocked unconscious).  
After several days of floating, the trees start to grow thicker as we sail into the dense forests of Grimvald. As we grow nearer through the passing days, Ko'ruk's anticipation grows (along with my apprehension) as he fondly recounts stories to us about his homeland. The memories of my own time here are clearer than ever - and certainly no more fond. We stop by a small village by the name of "Zurvald" two weeks later, at which point Ko'ruk and I decide to get off the boat and tread through the forest. The party knows of my experience with this landscape at this point (which is why I was nominated to go with the half-orc), but they have yet to pry for the reasons for it.  
The brutish fighter trundles loudly behind me through the underbrush as we approach the town - part of which is on fire (I think I've grown accustomed to this by now), and there are dead goblin & human bodies among some of the wreckage, which Ko'ruk found out after restlessly bolting down the hill in a demand to look around. Despite my vehement hand-waving and vocal protests to go retrieve the rest of the party, Ko'ruk insists on heading deeper into the town "just because I'm acting shady". I assume he must suspect my military background - he makes offhand comments to me about the "crusades" and their foul injustice - but I only nod in response. As far as he's concerned, I wasn't involved. I still wish to this day that I hadn't been.  
Many wounded villagers emerge apprehensively to meet us, and Ko'ruk approaches unhesitantly towards the town-master, speaking some sort of Grimvald tongue that I don't even begin to understand. Before he gets a chance to explain to me what was said, we hear a high-pitched war horn whose sound sprouted from the forest.  
It's a goblin horn - the sound is all too painfully familiar to me. I can easily tell that they're about an hour out, which fortunately gives Ko'ruk and I time to return to the boat, warn our party and bring them back to fortify and defend the village. After an hour of setting up defense, the accursed little demons finally break from their hiding (they must have been trying to ambush us, even though we knew they were coming) and come barreling down the hill from every angle.  
I find myself defending from the west side. Two goblins are running towards me through a very narrow alleyway, giving me a clear shot - but the ensuing chaos surrounding me breaks my focus, and my first two shots miss the pair by a large margin. I slowly back up, pressing my back against a nearby structure, and one goblin branches off while the other reaches me.  
I dodge his scimitars with a quick duck, jump back and whiff (yet again, I'm rattled after missing twice already) my third shot. As the goblin trails off in favor of joining his friends elsewhere, a huge rat jumps me out of nowhere and nicks my shoulder. Before I get a chance to retaliate with my blades, a single swing from Ko'ruk's greatsword reduces it to fur-jelly. With that done, I quickly nod my thanks to the half-orc and bolt towards another alleyway and - having regained my wits - quickly feather a stray goblin through the skull. At this point only two goblins remain, I assume because my allies succeeded where I failed towards the battle's start. I aim another shot towards one of the two - but the blow from that very goblin's war horn throws my shot and it accidentally nicks Ko'ruk's thigh. Despite this, as the last goblin is defeated, we get a short rest (and Ko'ruk gets a sincere apology from me) before another tide trundles down the northeast hill towards the village yet again.  
I swiftly climb onto a rooftop and release a long shot towards what appears to be the chief - thick helmet, and studded steel armor. My arrow clangs off of his helmet, and he now only appears to be irritated. As the group approaches a thick blanket of fog lays itself over the town square, which I can only assume Ruby summoned.  
Hidden inside the thick layer of fog, Ko'ruk lets out what was quite frankly the most terrifying war cry I've ever heard (good thing he's on my side), and two of the approaching goblins turn tail and run. The half-orc charges and hits the chief with a javelin, and with another shot in the chest from me, it's reeling wide. Despite that, he blows on another warhorn - this one a much deeper and harsher sound. Before he can lower it, however, Ko'ruk jumps between him and one of his minions, swinging empty air with his greatsword while roaring angrily.  
Ko'ruk's newly created distraction distraction gives me the opportunity to slowly draw back and snipe the goblin chief smack between the eyes. With that, the three remaining peon goblins are badly wounded, and we're just about done.  
Or so I thought. As if there haven't been enough reinforcements, a massive ****ing Owl Bear tears through the dense thicket, letting out an ear-piercing shriek upon first sight of the party. Upon first glance, he takes an arrow in the neck from me, screaming in newly aroused anger and pain. It takes multiple other hits from the party as it flails blindly - I can only take occasional shots at its massive form as my allies swarm around in a flurry of steel and claws (Juniper's taken the form of a wolverine at this point). I draw for what I hope to be the final shot, but before its release a massive blow of blinding light strikes the creature. The Owl bear lets out a feeble squeal as it falls to the ground, Melek's war-hammer embedded it its skull.  
I quickly hop off of my designated rooftop, jogging to join the rest of my party along with several villagers who are now hesitantly emerging from the chapel in which they were taking refuge. The village overseer seems to be viewing Ko'ruk as our leader, as they had been speaking in that odd Grimvald language just prior. The man addresses the half orc, who is both listening and taking out a sharp dagger in an attempt to skin the dead beast.  
According to the overseer, our help is of no use in the long run. These Goblins are based farther south, and keep sending reinforcements day after day to pierce the village's defenses. I step up to ask some more specific questions, but the man regards me with a look of judgemental disdain before giving very vague answers. If what he tells me is any bit accurate, we could run south and be rid of these goblins in a day - or even less.  
I don't even ask my party members before offering to help - it'd be easy, we could get some gold out of it, and these people need it. After I say so, however, I make eye contact with my fellow party members - some of which look skeptical.  
Ko'ruk slowly stands, shaking his head reluctantly and says that goblin raids in Grimvald are too common an occurrence. If these villagers aren't able to protect themselves, then they shouldn't survive.  
"If they haven't learned to fight by now," he says, "they don't deserve to live."  
Ellie and Melek both throw in their opinions on the matter - which I think were in favour of routing out the goblins, but I'm not really paying attention to them at this point - I'm thinking about what Ko'ruk just said. What utter nonsense he'd just spoken. I speak up a little louder to the whole party, trying to get my point across.  
These people are going to die. Goblins are common, but that doesn't mean they're a lost cause. I try to appeal to Melek - he's a Paladin whose oath is one of vengeance against evil. Out of the whole party, he seems to be the most willing to deal with this abominable plague. Ellie seems to be up for it as well - although I know she's only thinking about the extra gold they must be hoarding.  
The other three are a stubborn as I've ever seen them. Juniper and Ruby are of the opinion that there's a bigger mission at stake - the one we've been given by Lady RedCloak. Ko'ruk says not to worry about the villagers - "they'll be dead in a few decades anyway."  
At that moment I drop my longbow just to remove the temptation of hitting him with it. It shouldn't matter how long they'll live - a few decades is better than a few days. Furthermore, Redcloak hasn't likely given us a second thought since we've left. She gave us no specific amount of time to finish our mission, and even told us we'd be assumed dead if we didn't return. As far as she and her high-born servants are concerned, we could be dead right now and it wouldn't mean a thing.  
And this half-orc - he speaks of strength and deserving to live as if he were born alone - he likes to pretend he wasn't handed everything on a silver platter. My thoughts of him were positive not long ago - only for me to be proven wrong yet again. He can act the straight-forward warrior, but he's still just as high-born and entitled a prince as I've ever seen. He talks like knowing how to fight is some sort of self-earned protection.  
Drahl had known how to fight. Stray arrows don't discriminate between the weak and strong.  
I voice none of these thoughts as the rest of the party disputes the decision in resolute tones. My gaze slowly shifts to the villagers, many of whom simply stare at us with ash-covered faces, desperately waiting for a decision to be made. They are literally waiting for their fates to be decided for them, and whether they'll live or die the next day is up to us.  
"...We could give them our boat," Ruby suggests innocently. "You know, get them to a bigger city."  
The entire party tilts their heads at this suggestion. Eyes dart across the group and heads slowly nod. Melek strokes his beard and Ko'ruk's determined arms come uncrossed. If the party can't be convinced to eradicate the plague of goblins, then it's certainly the next-best decision.  
Ruby tells the villagers of this idea, and many of them look heartbroken to leave their long-time home. Regardless, we lead them back to our ship as I walk behind, fingering the arrowhead around my neck.  
I'd promised myself to earn vengeance - to do whatever it took to make sure goblins couldn't hurt anybody again, and now I've fallen prey to the foolish whims of those who'd rather lick the boots of some "Protectress".  
Just as the boat begins to fill with exhausted, cold and disheartened townspeople, I feel something tug at my leg - I look down to see a young girl staring up at me, likely only the age of five or less. Her hair was littered with bits of ash from the town's fire, and her white skirt had small bits of it torn off.  
"Sir, are you going to make the monsters go away?" She asks quietly.  
I look down for a moment, then quickly turn my gaze away, unable to stare down such an innocent creature - rarely have I come into contact with such a young being. Reluctantly I tell her no - but that she should be safe where her family's taking her. Just as she's about to ask another question, a woman rushes to her (most likely her mother) and quickly snatches her away, shooting me a very aggressive glance. I hear her speak softly to the girl as they board the boat:  
"What have I told you, Lucy? Never ever speak with strangers - especially not one of his kind."  
I stand still in the wind for a moment as our ship departs - holding my arrowhead in a whispered apology to Drahl - then I move to catch up with my already departed group.


	4. The Faded Fortress

Mellaris Uldreiyn  
Entry IV  
9th Spring-eve, 2021, New-Reckoning [11/15/2015]

It's been almost two weeks since we left Zürvald. We've been slogging through the mud and rain has fallen relentlessly as of late - the temperatures continue to drop as well, and the nights seem to be growing longer. All of these factors combined (along with those fried frogs Juniper made us the other night) seem to have pushed Ruby's health over the edge. She's just fallen deathly ill - her face is pale, she mumbles continuously in her sleep and is far too weak to even stir into consciousness. Tonight, she rides on the back of Melek's ram as the dwarf himself walks.  
It's dark, raining and we're of course in low spirits - but Ellie sees what appears to be a kind of fortress sitting atop the next hill. As we approach in a decision to seek shelter, I'm unfortunate enough to recognize the fortress all too well. I tell no one, and no asks, but this is the fortress that was assaulted several years ago during my time as a soldier… It's where my service ended, actually.  
It is, however, far different from how I remember. Once inside the walls, the party fans out to explore. I make my way to the officer's quarters, just to see if...  
...Just to see. Before I'm even close, The ground beneath me splits and I fall inside a well dug hole - pitfall trap. I've scraped myself up pretty badly, and so I crawl out, moving very carefully the rest of the distance to the old officers quarters. As I'm about halfway between it and the group, the half-orc bellows "goblin!" and I hear the clashing of steel.  
The only thing that could shake me from my recollection of this place, and it falls into the palm of my hand.  
The battle starts with chaotic surprise - I start with a dash back to the group - but have foolishly forgotten the pitfalls. Shaking off the blow from my second fall, I hurl myself out of the pit, over a cobbled goblin blockade and shoot one of the little devils through an opening where Ko'ruk has knocked a wall down. The first short wave of them died almost immediately, but a single straggler hopped down a small hole in the wall. I shoot an arrow down the hole, and we definitely hear something squeal in sudden surprise. Ko'ruk, with the knowledge that there are definitely more down there, suggests we burn down the building that the holes have been dug under.  
We all agree, but with our wizard sick and disabled, Juniper has to be the one to produce a fireball, which works well start the building ablaze. With that done, Ellie and I decide to head back over to the officer's building together - via the rooftops - to avoid pitfalls.  
I climb up the side of the wall easily but (foolish as I seem to be tonight) plant my feet onto the unstable rooftop with far too much force. Through a new hole I crash - and inside the building, more goblins lie in wait for me. I hear a loud crack against the stone wall and Ko'ruk flinging orcish obscenities from the other side. I refuse to surrender, and I'm not waiting for help. Whipping out my two scimitars, I give one of the goblins two nasty gashes across the chest. As I continue in taking the goblin's head clean off, I vaguely notice Ko'ruk then drop through the roof and attack a goblin a distance away from me. I'm not looking towards him, but I feel vague bits of something splatter over my cloak as the half-orc screams his war cry.  
It's not over, though. As Ko'ruk and I clear out the room, the other three party members scream a warning outside - where I run, and attempt to shoot a female goblin in the foot that's trying to escape. ...As my magnificent luck would have it, however, my bow actually snaps straight down the middle - I'm assuming because the wood's been doused in rain the past week and has grown soft.  
Wonderful.  
Ellie tackles the goblin before she can escape. Crouching with my scimitar at her throat, I endeavor to get some quick answers. She's obviously scared of me and the sword threatening her life - she says that they've made their home here for a long time - it's where she was born. She feebly lies that the goblins have all been killed - but they're still that - lies. Several of them could have escaped from that fire - the building took several minutes to reach a full blaze.  
I'm out of questions at the moment, and her eyes remain fixed to the blade tip at her nose. If I had no other idea, I'd simply slit her throat and put the villain out of her misery now.  
I tug her up into standing position, still holding her at sword point. I coldly lead her towards the officers barracks, to the point where I knew there were pitfalls, and told her to advance. It beats killing her on the spot, and I need into those quarters. Stepping slowly forward, I can tell she knows about the traps - she's scared to advance. To many others I would n- well, to almost any others I would never do this… But goblins of this despicable kind have no place in my heart whatsoever.  
She falls into the first trap fairly close to the door, wailing in pain. I look down and see that she's broken her leg, and for a brief moment, I consider leaving her there. There's no way she could climb out - she'd most certainly die… But I reach in and pull her back onto the grass - I don't know if it was out of pity or practicality, but dying in the next pitfall would be better than starving in the last. Goblin tears fall down her face as I force her forward again, and again she falls - right beside the door - this time snapping her neck on the way down.  
Right at that point I wince, turning my face away from the scene - and it's surprising to me. A feeling of immediate remorse fills my chest - a reflex of desperately wanting to take back something you've just done, like hitting someone as a joke but suddenly realizing you'd severely hurt them…  
...But what's done is done. I step over the hole and try to open the door, but it seems to be barred from the inside. I look up and try to climb over the roof, but can't even get a single foothold on the wet and mossy wall.  
I turn back to find the group, who've just stumbled upon a den of wary Kobolds on the fortress's other side. Ko'ruk's attempting to speak with them in some Grimvald tongue. If we can find our own way in, the Kobolds are allowing us into the officer's room in exchange for the rest of the fort. Before they leave, however, their leader warns us that their god - "big scaley" - is in that room. With that slightly ominous note and the opportunity available, we take a short rest.  
Ellie broke into the arsenal while we waited - she returned with quite a familiar white box... And an old written journal. There's no mistaking it, that journal's mine - I wrote it years ago just before the rebel ambush wiped out our platoon. The white box…  
I saw one of my commanding officers handle the box on several occasions. I'm not absolutely certain what's inside, but I always had a guess, and if the shape of it's any indication, that guess is correct.  
After I ask, Ellie reluctantly hands both over for me to inspect, and read I flip open the journal first - definitely mine. I glance up and find the whole party looking at me expectantly - do they think I'm going to read it out loud? Certainly not. Either way, I have no use for it, and slip it inside my bag. I'll probably burn it later.  
The white box is protected by a magic seal… but I'm fortunate enough to guess the Elvish phrase that unlocks it. Inside, as I suspected, it contains the Oathbow that was wielded by one of my old superior officers - a bow that I remember striking my head on multiple occasions. I attach the command "Be silent" ("Dina" in elvish) to identify a sworn enemy in battle, making the weapon much more deadly.  
In order to enter the officer's quarters, Ellie leads the group through the walls of the fortress, as that's the only way we can see to get in. About halfway there, she falls through the floor as the creaky planks split beneath her feet.  
Underneath, however, she and Ko'ruk find a secret tunnel leading to a room with a healthy amount of treasure. The two of them proceed cautiously as Melek and I stay behind to keep watch. As soon as we hear screams, though, I drop down without hesitation to be met with the gaze of a large slime, which I swiftly nick with an arrow using my new oathbow. Taking a few more hits and a final arrow from me, the creature disintegrates. After looking around, we find a small bit of Elvish gold in the room - though admittedly not very much.  
The next step is to stealthily creak the door open, entering into the officer's quarters where we expect to find "Big Scaley" - but the large room is empty save for a few littered coins... and lots of bones. Very white bones, too, like they've been picked clean. If that wasn't telling enough, there's also a massive gaping hole in the ceiling. With nothing but bones and a hole in the roof, we just about turn around to leave, but both ends of the room cave in and (you guessed it) a giant wyvern crashes through the big hole in the ceiling, letting out a ferocious and furious roar.

Upon sight I whisper my bow's command "Dina" and release two deadly shots which connect squarely through its neck. As I'm readying my third shot, however, Ellie takes a venomous and bloody bite through the shoulder - and she collapses unconscious onto the ground. I quickly recall my ability to perform a cure wounds spell and dart across to her, diving narrowly over the Wyvern's tail as it attempts to strike me on my way by. My initial spell stabilizes her, and an additional "lay-on-hands" from Melek wakes her back to consciousness - but Melek himself is then knocked down by the beast...  
Blast this Wyvern! Our entire party is reeling from exhaustion. I take another deadly shot - nailing it directly through the skull - but still it refuses to fall, only belting out a louder roar. Juniper transforms into a Wolverine in an attempt to finish this as quickly as possible - before the now poisoned Ko'ruk and the unconscious Melek lose their lives. With several slashes from Juniper's claws and another hack from Ko'ruk's Greatsword - the monster reels - and a last enchanted arrow from my bow brings the beast down at last.  
Every single one of us drop to our knees, panting with relief at the Wyvern's death, and just as we manage to get our breath back, we hear nervous murmuring outside. I step out first, having taken the least amount of damage from the Wyvern, to find the group of nervous Kobalds standing apprehensively at the building's doorway.  
The leader carefully steps forward.  
"Big… Scaley? ...Dead?"  
Ko'ruk quickly emerges behind me, once again speaking in his puzzling Grimvald language. I assume he tells them that the beast is indeed dead, because they then begin to jump up and down with joyous cheers. Ko'ruk continues to speak with the Kobald's chief, and then steps back to tell us that we've been offered free shelter for as long as we need it.  
For the first time in quite a while, I allow myself a relieved smile and a tired sigh. Safe shelter here should give Ruby enough time to recover from her illness - and it means we can treat it, too. Once she's better and we're well rested, we can continue to make our way through these perilous forests.


	5. Fiends in Falconberg

Falconberg: located at the south-trunk river. Ko'ruk tells us that it's a human city, but I also notice small groups of Kobalds here and there among the groups of people. Falconberg is the largest city in southern Grimvald - which means it should be a great opportunity to spend some of our previously earned gold.

Ellie's constant nagging takes us to Falconberg's archery shop first. Ruby takes some time to practice a few new spells she's learned, and Ellie quickly purchases a new crossbow since her old one had broken. Her new weapon is much larger, and can shoot a much longer distance than its predecessor - perhaps now I'll have some help sharpshooting from the back lines.

Just as I'm urging Ruby not to accidentally destroy anything with her new spells, I hear the faint sound of trumpet fanfare just outside the building. I quickly step outside, followed by the rest of the party, and after following the sound for a short few seconds, we stumble upon what appears to be an execution taking place. The man in the front appears old, withered and sickly - upon a more careful look, I notice something odd about his eyes… They're colored a shiny silver, with similarly colored tears running down his face. This is something we've encountered before, of course - no doubt the effects of "tears of the night". Still, it seems strange to me that the city would execute someone who was good as dead anyway. A man with an expensive looking medallion at the front reads off his sentence and the man is beheaded.

At the back of the raised podium are some self-important looking figures, one of them wearing some rich black outfit with expensive jewels. The other two unsettle me. There's a man and a woman, both wearing wizard-like robes, yet their appearance is hard to describe - like it's difficult to look directly at them for a long period of time.

After the old man's head is cut cleanly off, Ellie wastes no time in asking around the watching crowd - according to a random citizen, the one they killed was was old man Kroffin, and he'd been caught drinking tears of the night. It's no question to me that some in the crowd seem to be unsatisfied with this ruling. There's quite a lot of grumbling and shaking of heads. I ask an unparticular man what the point is in beheading someone who's essentially dead already. His answer is that the Bügermeister has apparently been stepping up his campaign lately. It's just an unsettled feeling I have, but those two wizards seemed to know something important - so we're heading to the city hall to try asking them about the wizards we're looking for.

Of course, we can't just bust into a noble's quarters without reason - that is, unless we're somebody important. After some discussion, we've decided that Ruby's shall take the identity of an important professor from Spindlestone's wizarding college - sent by Redcloak, and the rest of us are her personal guard. Upon entering the city hall, she demands to see the Burgermeister., but when questioned if this is official business, she says "you know it!" in the most breezy voice I've ever heard. I resist planting my face firmly into my palm - the carefree act may work in _other_ situations, but certainly not this one.

At the top of the building, we meet Johann-Von-Khiffhauser, the town's Burgormeister/Mayor. Straight off the bat, Ruby's not doing such a great job of convincing the man who we are, or that we're even worth his time. She hasn't even told him who we are yet. Fortunately, before I can interrupt, Ellie introduces us and finally gets his attention. She asks about the wizards that had been overseeing the execution, and according to the Bürermeister, these wizards are advisors to the count, and they're here on business of the state. Khiffhauser reveals to us that he doesn't trust them, and he doesn't even know _why_ they work for the count. He's essentially just the mayor, while the count is the governor of the city. I mention that we're here on behalf of RedCloak, looking for the lost wizards, and he seems to have high respect for RedCloak - and so is more willing to listen to us. After a bit more discussion, straight up tells us that the wizard-advisors even _scare_ him. Secondly, and suspiciously enough, the drugs that are now being cracked down on started circulating around the same time as the wizard-advisors appeared.

Before leaving, we tell the Bürgermeister that we'll try to talk with the count and hopefully find something out about the Tears of the Night circulating through the city. Ruby and Juniper, though, seem to be dead-set on finding the wizards on their own to spy on them. I'm not sure this is a good idea in the case they get spotted, and I'm definitely _not_ intent on them messing it up and getting caught, so I go with them both to essentially lead the way. What the rest of the party does at this point I'm not sure, but they're not coming with us.

Once outside in town square, Juniper identifies some huge footprints planted firmly in the ground. Keeping watchful for any ambush, we follow them through the nicer parts of town, and they seem to be leading towards the castle at the top of a large hill. It's obviously the count's manor, but what left these footprints we have no idea. My first instinct is that it's one of the wizard advisors - they almost certainly would have a familiar. In this case, a large monster or a giant of some kind.

Stealthily approaching the large structure, we can't see beyond the gate, so I decide to skirt off and look around the perimeter of the walls. Before I go, Ruby keenly identifies a sidgil on the top of the gate - this is the manor of Count Von-Falconborg, as I suspected. With a quick look around the outside, I see that there's a servants-entrance at the edge of the building. To avoid any one of us being identified, Juniper decides to take wolf form and sneak inside. Ruby summons an Owl familiar - with which we can see inside as it perches on Juniper's back.

For being a simple Druid, Juniper's animal forms are remarkably silent. Even with the ears of an Elf, I barely noticed the pattering of her paws across the cobblestone as she draws farther inside. She slips past the cook in the kitchen and overhears the Count's voice - I'll bet he's talking with the shady advisors. Juniper crouches carefully behind a decently covered wall, while Ruby's Owl peers around to look.

The conversation we overhear is disgusting, to say the least. The Count himself is talking of a plot to overthrow the others in power throughout Grimvald, to take control for himself. I really can't say I'm surprised - it's the typical ambition of one corrupted by his level of power and wealth. The officers I worked with years ago mentioned similar ideas on occasion. They, at least, were not foolish enough to act on them. As we continue to listen, the two wizards also reveal that they're responsible for the tears of the night going around the city. As much as I'd love to have more reason to hate these three, Ruby and I decide that this is no time to be found out. We quickly call Juniper back, and we make haste back to Falconberg to relay the unsettling information we've discovered.

In town, we stumble back upon Ko'ruk and Ellie by chance - Ko'ruk's quick to tell us that they were over at the black market, and that he apparently threatened to eat a Kobold and got a shady dagger for it. Ellie got her hands on a blowgun with poison darts. We head over to the church to find Melek, who I assume was communing with deities or doing something else that Dwarf Rabbi's do. Regardless, we all make our way back to the inn where Ruby and Juniper sort out some of their newly learned magical spells.

I bring up the fact that we need to figure out what to do about the conspirators. Juniper suggests looking to find more information - these advisors don't always seem to be all there (as I noticed upon first glance at them earlier in the day), and there's certainly something ghostly about them. Before doing anything stupid, we need to know more about our enemies. The next morning we decide to simply request an audience with the count. It's an easy way to ask questions without making enemies of ourselves. The guards are reluctant, but let us in after a bit of prodding. After waiting for a few minutes, the Count and the female enchantress come down to greet us. They've heard of the wizard expedition that we've been asking about, and the Count "generously" invites us to breakfast. From my experience, no plotting higher-up invites you to a meal simply to have a nice chat. My guard stays keen, as does the availability of my weapons.

I cast my detect poison spell, yet find nothing shady aside from the darts that Ellie carries. I decide to ask some questions off the bat about RedCloak, but the Count changes the subject and asks me if I've been here before - specifically 20 years ago. I neither confirm nor deny it, but his malicious tone indicates he sees me as an enemy simply for my past. Of course, he knows nothing of the context of my involvement - I'm not shaken by his accusations. It doesn't take a wizard to notice that he's hostile towards Elves, so I let the others do the talking from this point.

Melek whispers a quick prayer and notics that the enchantress at the far end of the table... is actually a _fiend_. Not only that, but Ruby senses illusion magic coming from some chests at the sides of the room. Those two bits of information together make the picture much clearer. We make just enough fake small talk to finish the meal before Ellie excuses us and we leave.

Immediately upon return to Falconberg, we talk to Johann the Bürgermeister and request an army. He agrees to help us form... well, honestly a mob (as long as the people are willing) and support our march on the Count's manor. Just as we're wokring up support through the city and starting to gain traction, some of the Count's thugs trundle down the hill to try and stop us. There's little to no diplomacy before it degrades into violence, when Ruby tries to charm one of them and fails. With our massive army standing behind us, however, the guards eventually realize their slim chances and just run away.

We move on towards the castle - the door is barred, but fortunately just made of wood. Ko'ruk busts it down with several blows, and the six of us run inside at the head of the army. Once indoors a vicious wall of flame erupts - the Count emerges with his servants only to insult us - he claims I've only returned to yet again slaughter Grimvald's civilians in cold blood. He's never been so wrong. He foolishly assumes I had a choice in the matter, and I regretted many things about the military - everything except getting to take out snobbish enemy officials like him. His wizard side-kicks transform into a devil-hag and an "Onie" ice giant, and attack to cover his quick escape.

Ko'ruk fumbles off the bat and drops his poison dagger on his foot - taking quite a bit of poison damage. I whisper "Catchphrase" to my oathbow and deal a huge hit to the auto-healing ice-giant as it stumbles towards us. Melek and Ko'ruk meanwhile rush the hag. Juniper shifts to a bear and tackles the ice giant. Ko'ruk takes a slice of poison from the hag, but quickly shrugs it off to continue throwing deadly blows. The fiery fiend shoots some sort of black ray at me as I prepare to fire, and I grow weak - not able to draw my string back nearly as far as usual. Immediately after, she waves her hands and everything goes dark for a split second right before I fire - yet I still take the shot and hear the ice giant scream in surprise. Ruby immediately casts a spell to light the room back up. Ko'ruk lets out a bellow and cuts the hag's arm clean off, then drives his sword through her stomach. Despite this, she still barely lives.

Having apparently grown tired of my arrows, the ice giant suddenly turns and charges me without warning. I try to get off a quick shot before he reaches me, but miss and barely roll out of the way of his claws. The hag meanwhile falls and disappears… I'm not sure whether or not it truly died, but the party rushes to my aid. I whiff another shot at the giant - firing under pressure at point blank isn't easy. After a huge beating from the rest of the party, Melek leaps and bashes the giant's skull in with his hammer for a final blow. With that, we remove the flames separating us from the rest of our army. Lots of help they were.

With the Count and his henchmen gone, Kiffhauser comes in and promptly declares himself Duke of the city at our party's request. It's true, I may trust him to run the city for now, but he still has the feel of a typical higher-up, eager to move up in rank. Given time, I fear the honorable Bürgermeister will become no different than my entitled military "leaders". If he truly is one of the "honorable" nobles, he'll have to prove it to me… and that'll take a lot.

With the battle over and the plot temporarily foiled, we need to take time to rest and recover. I assume we'll stay here and Falconberg until we receive leads on our larger mission.


	6. An Orcish Incursion

Mellaris Uldreiyn  
18th Spring-Eve, 2020, New Reckoning  
Since our last encounter, we've continued our journey east - riding higher into the northern plains of Grimwäld. These plains are of stark contrast to the dense forests, and I'm happy for the clear skies and fresh air to breathe. The last few days I've been in honest awe at the vastness of the plains and skies - a truly different environment than my forest home of Inis Ilyn, but beautiful nonetheless.

As of this entry it's been two days travel, and it's safe to say we're eager for some rest. It's well deserved by this point. Ko'ruk seems pleased to announce that we're approaching the settlement of Shairn-Gol - from what he tells us, they should give us a most warm welcome. The party appears relieved to have some hospitality, as I can understand, but Ko'ruk used the word should rather deliberately. As we finally begin to draw our journey to a stopping point at this town, however, I identify pillars of black smoke on the horizon… thick, heavy and black, like one gets when burning things besides wood and cloth. As we apprehensively draw nearer, I detect no sounds from the settlement.  
Many of the tents have been reduced to black traces of ash, while the other sturdier buildings were brought to piles of rubble. Very few structures remain in any kind of tact, one of them being the Chief's head tent. Upon inspection, we find clear tracks of a struggle: very deep marks in the dirt, as if left by claws and blades. Ellie astutely determines that there was a large battle (which of course any one of us would know), but also that two participants were dragged out of the tent. All we know at this point is that one was smaller than the other - and we've found no way of following the aggressors.  
Across the path, we notice another two tents that are only partially destroyed. Ko'ruk points them out to be the Shaman's hut and a trading post of some kind. Brushing aside the curtain to the hut, I'm slightly startled to be met by a body on the floor. I presume the old creature to be dead at first, but find him only to be unconscious after further inspection - and heavily wounded. Ruby and Juniper report that the trading post holds the most severe levels of devastation: piles of destroyed and unidentifiable objects, among which was a headless body. The neck had been severed cleanly. In the room after it they found another, although with much less of a clean cut.  
I turn my attention back to the dying shaman. I perform a simple wound curing spell, my hands glowing a celestial white as the gashes across his body seal closed. Everyone lets out a small sigh of relief as his eyes flutter open, and we allow him time to recover before attempting to ask any questions.  
After several minutes, the old orc is happy to talk to us in thanks for our help. Ko'ruk does all the speaking, as the shaman doesn't speak a language aside from that of Grimvald. He says that Chun-Tam - a warlord - has been brutally destroying other tribes and spreading his own kind west across Grimwäld's plains. As he attacked Shairn-Gol (where we currently reside), he captured the town's chief and his daughter. I nod carefully, and some of the others begin murmuring amongst one another. If the two still live, they could yet be saved - but whether or not it's worth our time is another matter entirely.  
My thoughts (and the other's discussions) are cut extremely short, however, as we hear the shrill blast if a wooden horn in the distance. I push my way outside and run to the ridge of the hill that the town sits on, and as I suspected, there is a small rabble of orc raiders quickly breaking in our direction. They bear no flag - but it's safe to assume that a few of Chun-Tam's soldiers have returned to their wreckage.  
After I deliver this information to the others, Ellie wisely suggests that we hide ourselves within the settlement. If we avoid detection from the orcs long enough, they may drop information important for us to know.  
Everyone agrees, while Melek stays with Ko'ruk to attempt to speak with the orc party. I duck behind the Chief's tent just as the creatures slow to a stop at the sight of Ko'ruk, who very commandingly gives them his name and asks what they've done here. The leader stops for a second before chuckling to himself in a hoarse and gravelly laugh, as if Ko'ruks question was simply ridiculous. He draws his crooked blade, confidently declares that Shairn-Gol will be a rich prize for his lord, and they leap to attack Ko'ruk and Melek.  
I quickly haul myself up onto a rooftop after seeing the clash of metal, just in time to watch Melek silence the leader's war cry with a single earth-shattering strike of his hammer, and I mean truly earth-shattering. My concentration broke at the sight of the creature's helmet crumpling like a sheet of tin-foil beneath the dwarven weapon. The orc's own shaman, however, remains unfazed by the attack and transforms… into an Owl Bear. Juniper hits it with a searing ball of flames - catching the attention of a female orc minion - who in her attempt to attack our druid received a crippling gash from Ko'ruk's greatsword across her chest. With the shaman-beast open to attack, I land an arrow in its side. In response, he twists and bashes Ko'ruk with a heavy paw, sending the orc fighter reeling backwards in surprise. With another combustion of flame, however, Juniper easily lays the beast low. The only one left is the orc woman, who now lies wounded before Ko'ruk. As she tries to crawl away from the battle, Ellie swiftly tackles and detains her with an impressive choke-hold.  
I run over to check the corpse of the now reverted shaman. Around his neck I find a necklace of silver in the shape of a serpent's head, with glistening emerald eyes and three feathers. Ruby's fingertips emanate a pink mist as she charms the crippled soldier, and Ko'ruk brusquely asks where the rest of her army is waiting. I've been able to tell by his mannerisms that the destruction of this village weighs on him - and I pity the enemy he takes his anger out on first.  
With the magic of the charm in full effect, the orc warrior says that her party resides in the Elf fortress to the west. They plan to send Shairn-Gol's chief and daughter's head to Chun-Tam very soon. Ko'ruk opens his lips for another question, but not before the orc breaks free and violently elbows Ellie in the nose. I plant one of my arrows into back of her head as she attempts to crawl away.  
As we prepare our mounts to set out yet again, I offer the old-man shaman my mule to ride. He agrees to come with us so that we may hopefully find him someplace safe to stay.  
As night is drawing near, we decide to rest just on the outskirts of Shairn-Gol before approaching the fort the next morning, while it's still dark. We awaken fairly refreshed, hopefully prepared to rescue ourselves a Chief and a princess.  
The journey feels long, and the night's temperatures are even more scathing than the brisk air of the day. I spend most of the ride staring at the brilliant white stars scattered across the sky - at the same time, we attempt to come up with a plan. Ellie's suggestion is to create a diversion. It's a sound enough plan, but I doubt even the Half-Orc or the Dwarf's ability to draw away an entire horde. We've centered only on the possibility of a distraction by the time we arrive, and after several minutes milling about the edge of the fortress, I decide to scout the perimeter first. Forming a plan will be much easier once we know what we're dealing with.  
I'm familiar with these walls, of course - they were constructed by the Elves long ago during the war in Grimvald. Luckily this means I know how to climb them. There's a set of indented handholds in a particularly hidden section of the wall, which I silently scale without too much difficulty.  
I spot an orc scout on my left as my head pokes just barely above the bulwark. His back is to me, so I hurdle myself over the wall without any noticeable sound, and carefully slink towards the large wooden door to the officer's quarters. This is the difficult part. Exhaling in concentration (and gritting my teeth), I slowly turn the rusty handle. I'm ready to bolt at the first squeak, but once again, I manage to make no sound, and my head peers hesitantly inside the darkened room. I see only three figures on the floor: two of them small, both bound to the wall by thick ropes. They seem to be asleep, so they don't notice my appearance.  
The third figure is huge. It's two headed - also asleep. I can hear the breaths of each head alternating like the faint sound of a living engine. I decide not to take my chances, and silently skulk my way back down the wall to find the party.  
After a short discussion, we decide our best option is to take out as many orcs as we can without being noticed. Ellie will climb the wall on the southeastern side, Ko'ruk the northwestern, while I climb to the same section of the wall (towards the captives) with Ruby and Melek, just in case I'm noticed. Juniper decides to be left behind, to ready our horses in case of the need of a quick escape. That, and she desires to look after the elder shaman.  
I climb this time with a long rope, and I ascend first. The dwarf and the wizard follow right behind me, surprisingly quiet. For the second time, I slip past the guard and slink through the door to the dark room. Wary of the heavily breathing two-headed Etin, I step forward on my toes… slowly… carefully…  
CRACK.  
I barely manage to keep my whole leg from going through the floor as a wooden floorboard splinters to pieces beneath me. The Etin snaps awake and roars, lumbering steadily in my direction. There's no way we can sneak away now - the thing's scream must have awakened the entire camp. I curse under my breath, grasp my bow and fire off a shot. At this point, it's best to keep the Etin's attention away from the two prisoners... I can only hope Ellie manages to sneak in the other side and get them out.  
I take several more shots at the Etin as I slowly back up. Ruby, luckily still behind me, creates a pool of fog, which slowly forms and eventually blinds the creature.  
Several seconds later, I finally have a chance to turn my head around - orcs are beginning to pool up behind me - Melek's barely holding them off by himself, one hammer strike at a time.  
I can't see what draws its attention, but the Etin suddenly turns around, floundering in the opposite direction of my arrows. Orcs break the door down and flood into the prisoner's room as well - I assume Ellie must have made it in, but the fog still blurs my vision. Whether or not she did, it's time to go. I fire a quick shot in no particular direction before jumping over the wall, momentarily losing my balance and rolling as I thud into the grass. I see Melek, Ruby, and now suddenly Ko'ruk following behind me as we break for our mounts. Snarling, gnashing, scrambling orcs follow mere inches behind us. I scramble to find my mule, only remembering upon sight that I'd given it to the old shaman. I continue running regardless, working desperately to keep pace with the others that now ride their steeds.  
Fortunately, these orcs are more dangerous over short distance than long ones. They eventually cease chase, brandishing their blades all while panting and gasping for air. If they were less mindless, they would have shed their heavy iron armor and kept in pursuit.  
Regardless, we keep moving until we're confidently out of range of the orcish army. As we slow to a stop, I begin to listen in on Ko'ruk's conversation with Shairn-Gol's Chief and his daughter - who I only just now realized were with us. As it turns out, Ellie made it in (as I suspected) and released the two. From what I can tell, they're friends of Ko'ruk from his past, and the information they give is most encouraging to him: his mother still lives, and she currently leads a resistance force to combat Chun-Tam. The Chief agrees to lead us there, where we can regroup, recuperate and possibly offer them our help.  
Ko'ruk also reveals what he'd been doing in the fortress: he managed to retrieve a heavy load of gold from the orc's treasury, along with a large portable hole for storing goods.  
I end this journal just before dawn of the 24th Spring-Eve. At the present moment, we're setting out to continue our course towards the resistance's city.


	7. RRRUUUUBBYYYY

Mellaris Uldreiyn  
Entry VII  
31st Spring-Eve, 2021 New Reckoning (1/20/2016)

Our journey has been long since last I wrote. We continue across the vast green plains, slowly working our way towards Ko'ruk's home city of Bat'or G'ol. There, hopefully, we can help aid a resistance to finally defeat the warlord Chun-Tam. On the way, chief Tem-Jun explains to us the attack on his people. There were hordes of Orcs, gangs of Ogres - and as he mentions that Goblins were among them as well, I narrow my eyes in frustration. I'd ask him more about the Goblin's whereabouts, but the rest of the party is still listening intently to his story. The Orcs had help from Goblins, reportedly because Orcs themselves do not carry ranged weapons such as bows like Goblins do.  
Also travelling with us (behind Ko'ruk on his steed) is Tem-Jun's daughter, who is Shairn G'ol's princess and also a skilled bard. Elves hold firm beliefs in the spiritually healing power of music - and it's done my soul well to hear her songs beside the fire each night. As I write these things in this very journal, Ko'ruk just surged ahead to the peak of a hill and is calling back to us - it appears that we've finally reached his home of Bat'or G'ol.  
Just as we approach the town's outskirts, a much older looking female Orc approaches with arms outstretched, and Ko'ruk dismounts his horse. Just as she exclaims that it's "about time her son came home" the rest of the village emerges, quickly forming a large and enthusiastic group around our party. Many of them ask questions about Chun-Tam, if we've seen him, how many of them there are, if anybody else has survived, and so on. As usual, we allow Ko'ruk to do the speaking. He simply answers that Chun-Tam has more men than we would've liked.  
As this conversation continues, I take a look what now appears to be a small village rather than a city. The sprawling plains look as if they're used to being covered in tents, but I count now only about ten to fifteen in the entire village. Nevertheless, Ko'ruk's mother generously invites us to feast for the night. It turns out to be the expected noisy, dank and crowded meal with overzealous Orcish conversation. I feel anything but "at home" here, even after Ko'ruk assures me that "this feast is for you and me! ...Well, mostly just me."  
The feast goes on for a few hours, but as it draws to a close, Ruby and I approach the town's Shaman, hoping to obtain some information. She starts by asking him about the Warlord Chun-Tam, and how far he's gotten with his campaign. The Shaman answers that there are few left. The warlord has destroyed most of eastern Grimvald, and Bat'or G'ol may as well be the last village left. To be honest, I was expecting the last hope of a resistance to be a large city - instead, we have to rally from this… small village.  
Next, I ask about our mission - the wizards from Spindlestone. Despite how little I like the person of RedCloak, I seem to be the only one that remembers our original mission as we continue our travels. As he's asked about them, the Shaman rubs his chin in thought. He tells us that he most certainly remembers them from about a year ago. There were only eight of them, as opposed to the ten we thought we were looking for, and they came with a large vanguard. They'd been looking for some lost city called "Remia". As familiar as that sounds to me, I can't put my finger on where I've heard it before.  
Just as we're about to continue our conversation, Koruk's mother gets up onto a table to begin a closing speech. In it, she expresses deep concern for Chun-Tam's approach. It sounds as if she wishes to discuss a plan, but before she has the chance to continue, Ko'ruk forcefully agrees that we'll help.  
I raise my palm to my forehead in frustration. The Half-Orc is honest enough, but his impassioned impulses are eventually going to get us into a situation we can't escape from.  
At his offer, the Shaman begins speaking. He says that Ko'ruk's help is eagerly accepted, but the "rest of these outlanders… well, they simply can't be trusted". Ko'ruk continues his impulsive defense of our valor and courage and so on. The Shaman doesn't appear to be swayed by it. His only option for us is that we take a rite of passage and become part of Ko'ruk's tribe. Only then will they trust us.  
The rest of the party nod agreement to this idea, yet I remain opposed to it. I am no Orc. I want no ties to this place or these people, and I do not believe that this conflict has to involve us in any way. The rescue of Tem-Jun and his daughter was fortunate and entirely coincidental - but the defeat of an entire army is simply beyond our power.  
As the party continues to discuss this option, I simply step outside. The others may become part of the tribe if they wish. I've had enough of the Orc's stuffy tavern, and it's getting late. I find a rather large tree to doze under, and eventually fall asleep.

Actually, no. I don't know how long I've been sleeping, but I'm awoken by a blunt stick jabbing me in the ribs. It's the Shaman. He says to follow him for the "time of testing". I want to object and go back to my sleep, but for some odd reason I get up and follow the robed Orc. He leads me to an open space in the village, where the rest of my party and the entire village are standing around a campfire. The six of us form a ring around it, and the Shaman comes to us with a bowl of… well, I'm not sure what it is, but it's thick and black, and he shoves it in my face and tells me to drink. I try for a moment to refuse, giving the Shaman a warning glare, but Ko'ruk eventually elbows me and tells me to drink it.  
It tastes like something that would be used to clean the floor. The fumes alone come very close to knocking me unconscious, but I keep myself standing after a violent shudder and gladly pass the bowl on to Ko'ruk. One by one, the rest of my party drinks the stuff and falls unconscious, until I'm the only one remaining. At that point, the Shaman hands me the bowl AGAIN. If I had known I was supposed to pass out, I would've let myself. I reluctantly take another sip of the gruel, and let my awareness slip away.  
Suddenly, I awake to find myself in an empty white space… and I only have my bow with me. The other five awaken around me, and off in the distance we can all see faint pools of light. As we draw closer, they turn out to be pools of some blue liquid. Before anyone can ask, Ko'ruk tells us that we're in an ethereal plane: the spirit world. He's taken this rite of passage before, and these portals will apparently take us to see events of the past, present and future.  
Of course, we SHOULD discuss whether to enter these portals, and to be ready once we do. Ruby, however, thinks it would be a better idea to dive in headfirst, which she promptly does while yelling some gleeful human expression I'm not familiar with. The rest of us follow more carefully, not wanting to split up.  
As the light of the portal fades, we find ourselves in a cold, dark room of wet stone. Even I can barely see with my dark vision - there's a single door directly in front of us, emanating a faint white glow. Ruby attempts to detect magic coming from the door, but is prevented from opening it by a magical ward.  
Ellie suggests picking the lock, but as we each have only one item with us, I hand her one of my arrows in the hopes that it'll fit inside the keyhole. Surprisingly it does, and with few twists and jerks, she clicks it open. As impressive as picking a lock with an arrowhead is, we don't have much time to marvel, as we see where we've been sent.  
The smell of sulfur is incredibly strong, and the ground before us is covered with flames and pits of lava. Across the heated fields we can see another portal, but there are of course monsters wandering between it and us. I only see a night hag and two skeletons, and I suggest attempting to sneak past them to avoid a fight.  
The first few feet we go unnoticed, each creeping along without a sound, but that all goes to nothing as I hear Ruby's sudden yelp behind me. I turn to see she's tripped, and turn back to see the night-hag snarling angrily straight at us. Just like every time a stealth attempt goes wrong, I pull out my bow and plant an arrow in the hag's should as Ko'ruk charges out in front of me. As I keep my focus on the monster, the rest of the party takes out the skeletons that attempt to close in on us.  
Or at least, they're trying. I take a quick left glance to see Ruby attempt a magic missile, which backfires and explodes in her face as Melek shields her from the skeleton's strikes.  
It matters little, as Ko'ruk has now decapitated the hag and is calling for us all to run for the portal. The skeletons are defeated relatively easily, and before any more monsters can appear, we all dive through the portal and are quickly sent to another location. I know exactly where we are as soon as we emerge. I've been to the capital of Scith-Seog many times before. It's different this time, however, as there's a large crowd of my own kind at the gates of the royal family's castle, all screaming elvish phrases and shaking fists. I can't claim to know what's happening, so we simply wait, and eventually see a well-groomed and uniformed Elf step out onto the balcony and address the mob.  
He assures them that their protests are justified and that their voices are being heard - but the queen is yet incredibly young and him and his associates are trying their best to counsel her. He tells them that they can rest assured - their opinions will be factored into the council's final decision.  
I watch the general intently as he says this… his eyes betray him the same as any Elven officer I've ever seen. He's a terrible liar, and he even cracks a smirk as he disappears back into the palace. The rioters grow even louder as he turns around. It's typical: try your best to turn citizens the other way, but continue your plotting and injustice like nothing ever happened.  
I only realize how enveloped I am in the moment as I feel a hand on my shoulder - Ruby's telling me to move through the next portal. As we all do so, I take another short glance back - I can't shake the distinct feeling that this is happening in the present… and that bodes very ill, given my people's already bloody history.  
Next we're sent to some sort of temple in a very old, white city. Something tells me this is all in the very distant and ancient past - and inside this very building, human corpses are being burned. It's unfortunate we can do nothing, as glimpses into the past leave our party as only holographic images. It IS fortunate that we don't NEED to do anything, as a large man breaks down the temple door with sword in hand and a large force of humans behind him. Together, they flood the temple, killing the high priest and flipping tables as they enter. Again, I don't know how I know these things, but I get the feeling that this has much to do with the lost city - Remia's - history.  
As the human attack ends we disappear through another portal - this time being sent back to the present, at the campfire… but we're still not physically here. Suddenly we rise and fly south, far past Spindlestone and Gabilan, to the south - Kemmet, I believe. Here we see several raised pyramids and altars. Inside one of them are vats, where they're brewing… tears of the night. So THIS is where that stuff is coming from. Inside the vats they're dumping quite normal ingredients, actually. Several green spices, honey and water - but then into each basin they add a human heart. We float closer to the priests adding the ingredients, and discover an honestly terrifying fact:  
Any soul that is killed by the tears of the night is sent to the dark god Vril'el.  
As intent as I am to find out more, another portal swallows us and we move on. Again, we're still ghost-like, but now we lay eyes upon 7 people in a white room, around a table. They all appear human, but their attire is strange. Whatever it is they're doing, they all appear to be enjoying themselves as they roll dice. I can only assume it's some sort of gambling game, but what's the significance of this? Why are we seeing it? Ko'ruk states that he likes the loud bearded one. As soon as we see these strange people, we're swept away by another portal.  
We emerge in the same place we started, all white with no particular horizon in sight. There's a single portal far in front of us, which we make our way towards before being ambushed by what look like a pair of wraiths.  
This fight turns out to be more difficult than it first appears, as the beings can only be substantially wounded by magic and are very resistant to physical strikes. Fortunately my Oathbow has magical imbuements, so I graze one of the wraiths as I break for the portal. My focus is broken by the creature's scream during my second shot, however, and the arrow flies wide and nick's Melek's cheek. I keep an eye on the battle as I continue back towards the portal. Ruby attempts a magic missile, but it once again combusts in her face as she falls to the ground, momentarily blinded. I don't know what it is breaking the wizard's focus today, but she'd best overcome it before she gets herself killed.  
Just as she's trying to stand up and I ready another shot, Juniper transforms into a bear and greatly wounds the first wraith… but there's something off. She doesn't seem in complete control of her form as she lashes out at Ko'ruk soon after. As I look closer, I can see the old emblem around her neck glowing red. Ko'ruk fortunately avoids her strike and evaporates the wraith with his greatword, and as the second wraith is well handled by the rest of the party, I yell for him to get Juniper's necklace off of her. As I say it, she lets out another ferocious strike at the Orc, dealing a blow that knocks him to the ground.  
Just as I'm tempted to fire a shot at the necklace, the second wraith is destroyed and Juniper returns to normal… but she remembers nothing that just happened. I ask her to remove the necklace, but she finds herself unable to. I shake my head in worry at this development - as soon as we return, we must ask the shaman of its nature. If we're not careful, it could eventually kill her and/or us. For now, however, we enter another portal.  
This time we emerge in a bright forest, in the midst of a clearing. In its center is a wooden table with an assortment of pastries and other treats. Just as the others approach, my suspicions kick in and I quickly cast a spell to detect any poison, which I indeed find within the food. I snap at the party for them to stop, and a shady yet brightly clothed man steps out from the forest's cover, laughing to himself. He introduces himself as the mysterious "Jack-O-Green", jester and trickster. We tell him of our quest, and he agrees that he would love to aid us, however, that's simply not in his nature. Instead he urges us to play a "game" of cards, in which half of the cards will result in positive gifts, and the others in negative ones.  
Ko'ruk, Ellie, Ruby and Melek all agree to play, but Juniper and I both vehemently refuse. If this game goes how I suspect, the negative outcomes will be much worse than the positive.  
O' Green cracks a grin as Ruby draws her first card… he mentions the dagger that she took from the demon's altar during our party's first battle, with the undead and Lord Chumley. Apparently the demon now knows who she is, and has now made enemies with her. Ellie draws and obtains information - someone she knows is plotting to bring about her downfall. Melek is promised to one day become King of the Dwarves, and Ko'ruk loses all ownership of any magical items.  
Ruby, not content with having a demon enemy, now refuses to continue the game. The other three, however continue for reasons beyond my common sense. Melek gets a new magical flying hammer, Ko'ruk is promised a substantial growth of skill if he can defeat our next opponent by himself, and Ellie… well, she experiences an immediate DROP in skill level. Many of her honed techniques up to this point have been dumbed down. With Ko'ruk and Melek now satisfied and the others not, we proceed through the portal with Jack O' Green's enthusiastic wave goodbye.  
This portal gives another glimpse to a location - present day, a short ways north of Bat'or G'ol. A giant mountain filled with hordes of gold - in the center, a large sarcophagus containing the body of a long-gone Orcish hero, holding what Ko'ruk tells me is a long lost royal blade. Just as he's demanding we go to recover it, the whole scene is enveloped by flames, and everything goes dark.  
At last, we awaken around the fire where we lost consciousness. The shaman waits as we recall everything we saw - Juniper and I quickly ask him about her pendant. He examines it closely, regretting to tell us that it is a cursed object of some kind. He can't remove it, so we still have yet to know what to do about it. Ko'ruk now demands we immediately break for the tomb of "the first Orc" - to reclaim the royal sword. The rest agree, but I hold any comments I have.  
As we now depart, many images still swim through my mind. Among them, concerns for my people, the Elves. I'm far from them, but I still wish to know what's happening to my country. Finally, and more important, are the tears of the night. Now that we know where they're being made, they can be stopped - not only that, but the burden is even heavier on us now that we know the drug's purpose. Presently, however, we seek the first orc's blade to hopefully reunite the Orcish tribes and defeat Chun-Tam.


	8. Dungeons and Dragons

Mellaris Uldreiyn  
Entry VIII  
2nd Summermorn, 2021 New Reckoning (1/24/2016)

It is on the second of Summermorn that we have departed northwards towards the tomb of the first orc. The sky is gray with heavy clouds as we depart… I can feel a storm coming, yet not for several more hours.  
It does not take us long to reach the tomb, at the foot of which is a large stone door. The door is very large - it would take a considerable amount of strength to open it. As we dismount and approach, we see carving in the stone, some of which are in Orcish, and some of which are in Dwarvish. Ko'ruk interprets the first phrase to read: "Here lies Chun'Grook, king of the orcs". Melek reads the second phrase: "This tomb built by the Dwarves". If I remember my history correctly, the Orcs and Dwarves were strong allies long ago.  
Melek and Ko'ruk both work together in an attempt to shove it open. Struggle as they might, the great door doesn't give an inch. Ruby steps forward to closely examine it - she determines that it's around 2,000 years old, and is sitting in grooves meant to be slid sideways. The two now slide it open, the Half-Orc muttering some question about who ever builds doors that way...  
As we enter, Ellie disarmingly asks Ko'ruk what kind of treasures lie at the end of this tomb - in response to which he snaps that the sword is his birthright and shouldn't be wielded by any other. She spreads her hands in innocence and they continue to argue over the spoils - spoils that we haven't even won yet.  
The path of this underground tomb forks very early on. We decide first to turn right, taking a path that leads into a small room with another dwarven symbol carved into the floor. Melek tells us that it's the word for earth. On the side of the room is a coffin, which we think little of, until Ko'ruk and Ellie attempt to open them and see what's inside.  
Ellie jumps and quickly retreats as a pair of deathly hands emerge from their resting place. Ko'ruk bellows at us all to stay back, as he intends to collect the large strength growth that he was promised by Jack O' Green. We all stand a distance a way in the corridor, watching the Half-Orc warrior deal a strong blow to the White zombie on his right. As he does so, he also takes a hit from the other… a blow which seems to have significantly weakened him with a kind of magic. I turn back briefly to see the my comrades… dancing with each other, oddly. As I seem to be the only one concerned with Ko'ruk's well-being, I ignore them. The Half-Orc manages to defeat his enemies despite his weak start, and he takes a long-sword that one of them had wielded.  
As there's nothing left for us here, we exit out of the room and continue down the path we'd chosen. We eventually come to a stone spiral staircase leading very high up into the ground, so instead of climbing it Ruby summons her owl and sends it flying. she sees a very tall room with a high ceiling - there are ropes and pulleys at the top another dwarven symbol on the floor. She sketches it out on the wall, which Melek reads as the symbol for wind.  
We decide to climb the staircase and enter the room. Rather than be cautious and quiet like I thought rogues were supposed to be, Ellie decides to slice one of the ropes from the ceiling, and she goes soaring into the rafters… with no way back down. So long as she's up high, she decides to look around. She takes hold of another rope and tugs it, which causes the doors on the ceiling to slightly crack open. Unfortunately, this means the door can't be opened all the way, since Ellie cut one of the ropes to get up to the rafters.  
As a solution, Ruby has her owl grab the cut rope and fly it back up to Ellie, who ties the pieces back together and hauls on the fixed rope. The doors slowly groan wide open in response - at which point we can see that the storm outside has begun. Wind comes howling in and rain pours through the ceiling - all causing the rune on the floor to begin glowing. Of course, we all conclude that the runes respond to contact with the element it represents. This was a wind rune, and it was activated by the storm.  
Melek quickly runs back to the tomb's door to collect a handful of soil, which he places on the earth rune inside the room with the coffins. As we expected, it begins to glow a vibrant green. I have my doubts as to whether activating these runes is a wise action, but nothing terrible has occurred thus far. With our first path complete, we return to the fork and travel left, moving in the opposite direction. We come to a side door with a small keyhole - Ko'ruk and Melek nearly break it down, but we convince Ruby to have a look through first. It's too dark to see clearly, but she can make out the shapes of small creatures skittering across the floor. In the name of common sense, we leave this door to be dealt with later.  
The next room we encounter is completely empty, all except for the next rune carved into the stone floor - it reads "water", so Juniper uses one of her water summoning powers to activate it and it glows blue. With that done, we keep moving down the skinny corridor until we come to an extremely thick stone door with no apparent keyhole. There is a handle, but it doesn't turn, so Ko'ruk elects to simply kick it down by force.  
As he does so, I ready my bow to attack in case of monsters, but as a trio of angry whites emerge, My arm jerks back by reflex, snapping my bowstring with a single twang. I curse and quickly dive to the rear of the party, only to realize the rest also standing back with me. I glance up to see Juniper in bear form, throwing herself at the whites without any sign of hesitation. She and Melek take the whites alone, while the rest of us close the door in case Juniper attacks her allies a second time. A take the moment to successfully splice my string back together in a temporary fix. While I do so, I hear occasional roars and a single loud thud (followed by dwarvish shouts from Melek) coming from the room. Ko'ruk quickly grows impatient and kicks the door down again, while Ellie and I both step in behind him to fire shots.  
It turns out, however, that they didn't really need us after all. Juniper quickly takes out two of the Whites with each paw, and we slam the door closed a second time as she turns to the last. Once we hear her roaring stop, we swing it back open to see she's reverted back to normal. Inside this room is the dwarvish rune for fire, which Ruby ignites with a quick fireball spell.  
Now that we've encountered this room as a dead end, we turn back around to find the original fork in the path. As we pass by the small room with skittering noises a second time, Ruby casts dancing lights through the key-hole to see what's inside: the floor is completely covered with disembodied hands. My quick idea is for her to cast cloud of daggers in the room - after she does, we open the door safely to find them all mangled to pieces. Ellie notes that this place was once a cell - there were skeletons chained to the wall, but Ruby's daggers destroyed them. Juniper pressure-washes the room but finds nothing on the floor.  
We double back to the first fork in the path, and this time go straight ahead. Ko'ruk leads for a few meters before he stops us, pointing out a suspicious slab in the floor. Ellie points out easily that it's a booby-trapped pressure plate. After taking a quick look, she manages to disarm it by cutting the threads inside.  
We continue to the end of the hall… where we find the orcish symbol for blood on the floor in front of a large gate. Ko'ruk (eager as he is) pricks his hand and places it on the rune, causing a very large unclicking sound on the door. Carefully, he places both hands on the door and slides it open to reveal the tomb's main room, filled with large mounds of gold…  
...that a large dragon is laying on top of.  
We all press our backs closely against the wall, ducking out of sight as soon as we see the beast. Melek quietly breaths a whisper, saying that he recognizes the monster as a young Red Dragon - weaker than most, but still more than we can most likely handle. Ko'ruk, however, makes it clear that he is still dead-set on getting this sword. I slowly poke my head around the corner to look at the monster. It's certainly asleep - breathing heavily with its eyes closed. I could sneak it and try to grab the sword from the sarcophagus… but I'd have to take it right from under him - literally. He'd SURELY notice something sliding from underneath his belly.  
...Unless we got him to move.  
I tell the party that I'm going to sneak in, and I instruct Melek to go retrieve my mule - and when I give him the signal, to send it running into the room. He moves off, and I begin to carefully creep towards the dragon. Every step is a possibility of death for me. As I get closer, I gradually realize how much BIGGER this dragon is than I initially thought. Thanks to what must be some kind of luck from the gods, I draw within mere feet of the dragon and the sarcophagus. Just as I kneel down to attempt to touch it, the dragon MOVES.  
I go deathly still. Risking a glance over my shoulder, I see the dragon's tail slowly curling up behind me. If it wakes up now, I won't be able to escape. Regardless, I lay hands cautiously on the sarcophagus's golden lid. Mute, without a single metallic screech or slide, I inch it open beneath the dragon until it's wide enough to fit my arm through. At this moment I quickly raise my hand and hear my mule whinny and gallop into the room. The dragon (as I expected) rears in the blink of an eye and snaps its jaws around the animal, giving me no more than a second to snatch the sword and sprint for my life.  
I don't take the chance of looking behind me. As soon as I reach the party, we ALL turn and run, hearing the dragon's terrible roar mere feet behind us. We keep running until finding the room with the hands, and there we stop and wait for what seems like hours. After a long rest, Ellie and Melek decide to go back to see if they can steal anything else. I call them fools, and watch them go, but they return regardless with a small pile of things they took. They don't mention the dragon at all, but I notice bits of ash remaining on the backs of their clothes. The pile contains a few magical rings that supposedly restrain large monsters, and a pair of Elvenkind boots which Ellie keeps for herself, despite my request to use them. I'm simply remembering my encounter with the dragon, and how much easier it would've been had I owned those boots at the time.

Smushu the dragon 3

...I shall assume Ruby wrote those words. I'll be careful not to leave my journal in open spaces where it can be seen. I had set it down momentarily to speak of the dragon - after seeing what was left in the main tomb, Ellie and Melek seem to think it wise to kill the dragon and take everything. I argue strongly against this, calling it a fool's errand. I saw the dragon up close - there's no way we can kill it without being eaten first. The rest of the party eventually agrees to fight, and Ellie quickly brands me a coward - an insult I wish she hadn't chosen. Perhaps she knows the weight those words hold in my culture. I am very much afraid, but I am now bound to fight nonetheless.  
Ellie goes outside the tomb and climbs the mountain to find the hole above the dragon while we wait just outside the room. It has indeed returned, and now Ellie waits for a sneak attack. We all nod our readiness, and she leaps, landing squarely on the dragon and slicing open its fire pouch. The beast roars, and the battle begins. Melek and Ko'ruk charge the monster while Ruby and I stay back. I quickly whisper the elvish words to my Oathbow and fire, doing massive amounts of damage the dragon.  
Overall, the fight goes much better than expected - The dragon seems flustered by the sudden attack and spends several seconds flailing around without hitting a mark while Ko'ruk and Melek continue beating on it with their weapons. Ellie is remaining undetected underneath the lid of the sarcophagus, occasionally hitting a deadly shot with her crossbow.  
Once the creature finally reorients itself, it lays deadly damage on the Melek, knocking him backwards and damaging him severely. Before it can take advantage, however, I land another magically enhanced shot it its neck, and with a massive strike from his new greatsword, Ko'ruk beheads the beast. Everyone gathers around the corpse, and I take a moment to marvel at the simple fact that I'm unharmed. In this pile of treasure is an unfathomable amount of gold - I take two teeth from the dragon, possibly to make daggers out of later. Out of the treasure pile we find another pair of Elvenkind boots - this is the only thing I take for myself other than the divided gold.  
With the dragon dead and Chun'Grook's sword now in Ko'ruk's hands, perhaps now we can finally bring about the end of Chun-Tam.


	9. The Battle for Bat'or G'ol

Mellaris Uldreiyn  
Entry IX  
6th Summermorn, 2021 New Reckoning (1/31/2016)

It's the 6th of Summermorn when we finally arrive back in Bat'or G'ol. During the approach, we see the settlement in even worse state than before - the orcs are hungry, and have very little. This comes as no surprise to me, as we're quickly told that Chun-Tam has been roaming freely in our party's absence. The old chief that we rescued several days back was severely injured in an attack… and he's sadly now beyond the point of healing. Despite being in such a tattered state, the inhabitants of the village are restless, and they move from tent to tent in preparation for a battle.  
Ko'ruk's mother greets us first, as before she can say anything besides "welcome home, son", the half-orc eagerly dismounts and presents his new greatsword. At this, she smiles heartily, saying that "Chun-Tam should no longer be a threat"... but if only it were true. The Orcs put to much hypothetical value on a simple weapon - sacred or not, Chun-Tam won't kneel to it unless we bring him down ourselves.  
In regards to the coming battle, Lee'luk presents to us Bat'or G'ol's forces… much to our dismay. They consist only of nine warriors and a pregnant civilian, along us, Ko'ruk's mother, and the Shaman. Even with such bleak numbers, Ko'ruk attempts assure us that our party of six will be enough to tip the balance in our favor.  
Before we gather in the war-tent to plan, I ask the Shaman if he's any nature magic to teach me. Gladly enough he instructs me in an offensive ability called "hail of thorns", with which I can strike enemies using a cloud of spikes as I fire my arrows.  
In the great hall, after a short discussion, it's decided that Ellie, Ko'ruk and myself will go to scout out Chun-Tam's current position. If he's in a vulnerable location, we must know - and if not, we must learn how to best defend ourselves. The three of us set off in search of his fort, and it takes little more than a day to reach him.  
The fort that his army sits in is made of earth - like a bunker, using the ground as raised walls, with ladders going up the sides like any other fortress. We spot several goblins with bows keeping watch along these walls. If we approach from the left, however, we should be able to avoid being spotted. Ellie and I lead in closer to the fort while Ko'ruk follows - I'm keeping a close eye on the Goblin guards as we do so.  
As we get closer, I step in and press my back to the wall with Ko'ruk. Ellie looks up and decides to try and scale it, but the earth gives beneath her feet as she tries to climb. The loud resulting rumble catches the Goblin's attention - they see us and blow their war horns.  
Well, this mission was a short one. Not wanting to take on an entire camp by ourselves, the three of us make a quick decision to flee. Fortunately, our mounts make it impossible for us to be followed closely by Chun-Tam's armies, but that doesn't mean he won't decide to press forward now that we know where he is. During the day's ride back, we discuss an alternate plan to defeat the warlord, or at least slow him. I suggest (having some experience with military affairs) a standard plan of distraction. If we can conjure some magical illusion big enough to draw attention in one direction, we could quietly bring an army up from the other side and attack the fortress's rear.  
As we finally return to Bat'or G'ol, Lee'luk and the other orcs accept this plan readily. We decide to let Ruby and Ko'ruk feign an attack from the front while Lee'luk leads the rest of us in an attack from behind. If we're not noticed, we should be able to eliminate a large portion of Chun-Tam's forces unnoticed. With this in mind, we set off to get a pre-emptive attack on the warlord.  
As our army rides, another idea starts to slowly seep into my mind. If the orcish culture is as honor-bound as it has appeared in the past, we may not have to spare any lives at all. I ask Ko'ruk how his culture handles challenges of single-combat, and he responds that Chun-Tam would never honor such a call.  
…if Ko'ruk didn't wield the sword of the Great-Bear. It was a simple idea of mine, but the half-orc's eyes now have an intentional look that I don't wish to challenge. He agrees to challenge Chun-Tam alone, with Ruby's Owl as last resort help. While he does so, our army will enter formation in the back.  
Once we're ready, Ruby watches Ko'ruk and describes the battle to us. Surprisingly, Chun-Tam rides out on his great dire-wolf and accepts Ko'ruk's challenge. She couldn't tell what terms they agreed upon, but Ko'ruk starts the fight off well with a pair of brutal sword swings. Chu-Tam reels momentarily, but quickly regains his composure and proceeds to take Ko'ruk in an even fight. No one appears to have an advantage until Ko'ruk eventually loses his strength, having to keep himself up on a single knee. Ruby takes this opportunity to attack with her Owl, in response to which Chun-Tam simply scoffs and retreats, leaving Ko'ruk to several swordsmen and Goblin archers.  
Juniper and I sprint forward towards the fort - she's looking for a way to bring it down, while I'm looking for a way to get around and heal Ko'ruk. I dart to the right, staying close to the wall in order to stay out of any archer's way. Behind me I hear a crash and the rushing of water, but I don't want cost myself a glance over the shoulder. I look up and fire at a guard on the wall, taking it down with a single shot, then continue to run and fire at several guards as they enter my line of sight. Several shots later, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look behind me to see Melek, who offers to throw me with his flying hammer. Eager to reach Ko'ruk quickly, I agree. I grip his hammer tightly and he throws, sending me soaring several feet before I let go and topple through the grass.  
I scramble to my feet only to be confronted by two orc warriors attempting to bar my path - instead of facing them, I duck around to the right, taking a gash across the chest in exchange for avoiding a fight. Melek distracts them as I dash across the open field towards Ko'ruk, who's lying facedown in the grass. Once I reach him I see that he's stable, and therefore take a moment to combat the two Goblin archers trying to finish him off. I manage to take one out with two shots, but take an arrow in the shoulder in return. With the first down, I now kneel to get Ko'ruk back on his feet with a glow of my hands - the fighter leaps to his feet and roars in rage, sprinting towards the second Goblin and impaling it with a javelin.  
It's at this point that I cast my gaze inside the walls of the fortress - on top of a large structure I can make out Ellie fighting for her life against Chun-Tam, her rapier clashing continuously with the warlord's greatsword. I quickly nock an arrow and - just as he shoves her to the ground and raises his blade - strike him through the knee. Ellie pops up, taking the opportunity to decisively strike the great orc warrior through his throat. A blade in the neck was understandable for the hallooing - but I didn't expect her to lift the warlord's body and scream as loud as she did. Her outcry - that the orcish leader had been defeated - was heard by everyone in the within the fort's walls. Even I heard the scream plainly outside the gates on the other side. Chun-Tam's men all hesitate, clearly seeing his body held high over the rogue's head. The first to flee is an Etin, followed by an Ogre, and finally, the rest of the entire army.  
As we slowly gather in the center of the fort after our victory, there are several captives held in the middle at sword-point. Many of them are Goblins. We discuss what to do with them, and I only agree to anything as long as the goblins are punished in some way. Ko'ruk nods, eagerly noting that goblins make excellent appetizers. The orcs we've captured (strangely enough) now answer to Ellie, as she's the one that killed their leader. We have no use for them and so she simply commands that they join Lee'luk and the tribe of Bat'or G'ol.  
With everything else dealt with, Ko'ruk makes his way to Chun-Tam's now masterless dire wolf, while Ruby and Juniper go inside the dead warlord's tent. The dire wolf crouches before Ko'ruk - at first hesitant to accept him as owner - but quickly recognizes the half-orc's sense of authority and obeys. Due to this, Ko'ruk tells me that he's passing Johann (his Yak) down to me. I usually care nothing for animals, but in this case, I promise to treat the half-orc's former mount with great care.  
Juniper and Ruby emerge from the tent - bringing with them a young wizard that looks as if he's gone through weeks of torture without food. His entire body is covered in scabs and his face is pale white. Just as we approach him, Bat'or G'ol's shaman summons Ruby to another tent, where he says he's found another captive wizard. We ask the both of them what's happened to the wizards we're looking for - and we discover that Chun-Tam killed them all. Although this news is distressing to us, the wizards give us more important information: that the wizards had found the lost city of Remia. The city was overrun by ghouls, and so the wizards were waiting for an opportunity, but not before Chun-Tam caught them by surprise and slaughtered them all. The apprentices (who we've just rescued) were lucky enough to only be taken prisoner. It is now, of course, that our party decides to escort the apprentices back to Spindlestone.  
The journey back was long, and on the way we spotted quite a few oddities - most of which disturbed Ko'ruk more than anyone else. As we passed by Falconberg, we noticed that Grimvald's flag had been replaced by that of Spindlestone. Having seen this, we stayed the night in the city and found out that Johann-Vaughan-Kiffhauser had declared loyalty to Spindlestone and is now a lord.  
We pass by the destroyed elven fort again and see our allies, the Kobolds. It is on the 27th that we passed the city of Zürvald - which also had a raised flag of Spindlestone. It was at this point that Ko'ruk expressed worry about Redcloak's intentions with Grimvald. As I write now, it is the 7th midsummer and we've just returned to the city of Spindlestone with immediate intentions to see Redcloak.  
As we enter, Glazier (Redcloak's first assistant) greets us and Ko'ruk informs him that the wizards have all been killed. As we're quickly sent in to see Redcloak, her eyebrows rise in surprise and she stands - in all my memories of her, I'd forgotten how short she really was. Before any of us can get a word out, Ko'ruk steps bluntly forward and demands to know the reasoning behind Spindlestone's flags in Grimvald. She assures him that she has no interest in the plains, and simply wants to expand for industrial purposes. Apparently, the goblins roaming the forests are also on her list to be eradicated.  
In the end she thanks us, and we're each paid a handsome amount of 10,000 gold for our mission. We also turn the wizard apprentices over to be cared for. At this point, we all break into the city to collect items and run errands. I learn s stealth spell and have my dragon fangs made into scimitars. After the day ends, we decide to stay for several nights before deciding what to do next. I attempt to tell Glazier of the tears of the night during our stay, but he decides I'm lying. It's makes difference to me - his decision to act or not is his own.  
One night we stop an attempt on Ellie's life and find a letter on the killer - it offers 50,000 of Troikagrad's currency to anyone that kills her. She's not willing to say much about who wants her dead, but she definitely admits that "the jig is up."  
Ultimately, we make the decision to head south to Kemmet, where the tears of the night are being produced. On the way there, we're on our way to some prince's wedding in Gabilan where he'll choose a bride. It's said that the Queen of the Elves will be attending.


	10. Left With Labby

Mellaris Uldreiyn  
Entry X  
7th Summer-Eve, 2021 New Reckoning (2/7/2016)

Since the events of my last entry, we've spent a month recuperating within the city of Spindlestone. I don't know what it is about this place, but we're finding it difficult to leave. It's as if something new comes up every day we're prepared to depart. Tonight, it was the reappearance of an old acquaintance - Vinnie Palermo (at least, I assume that's the spelling. I did not bother to ask him personally).  
Coincidentally, although it is he who is indebted to us for the collection of Spindlestone's drugs and the inspection of the sewers, he says he'd like to ask another favor. I - for one - think it's time we made our way out of this city by now, but the rest of the party (Ellie especially) want to hear out his request. He introduces us to his sister - Theresa - saying that Gabilan's royal family has strong connections to his own. The catch is, a rival "gang" (hive of wretched fools as he calls them) is also looking to strengthen their ties with Gabilan. Vinnie asks that we take Theresa with us to Gabilan, in the hopes that she may be chosen by the Prince as a bride.  
For any other, this task wouldn't be enough trouble to turn down… but quite frankly, Theresa comes across as an obnoxious and spoiled child. I haven't heard a word from her mouth that wasn't a complaint.  
...Now that I think about it, she'd fit in perfectly with royals. It wouldn't surprise me if she and the Prince turned out to be a perfect match. Still, our party is wary of the fact that we still have to escort Theresa such a far distance. To make up for this, Vinnie (unfortunately) offers us a ship to take. The others seem pleased with this offer, but I'd sooner walk all the way to Gabilan with iron weights in my bag than sail. As soon as dinner ends, Vinnie wishes us good luck and we agree to depart the next morning.

16th Summer-Eve

As I suspected, the trip overseas was altogether awful. The seasickness was not even the worst of the journey - the child Theresa has turned out to be a larger nuisance than I originally thought. Melek had to talk myself and the Orc out of tossing her overboard several times. Now, however, we're walking on solid ground again, and have arrived just outside the city of Caer-Gabil. Without taking even a second to stop or explore, we decide to make our way into the palace, where we'll be introduced to the prince. Once inside, my instinctive guard immediately perks. I feel no comfort surrounded by such highborn nobles. Every glance I receive feels as if they're looking for something to take from me.  
Once inside, the prince's servant quickly announces our presence, only noting Theresa's name and calling us as her company. It's true that we specifically may never have been invited, but it seems we're welcome nonetheless. The Prince welcomes us cheerfully and invites us in to sit, but before we get the chance, another visitor is announced right beside us. As he steps up, I identify him as a small halfling, and he's introduced by the name "Carrot Underfoot". I have no clue who this man is - and while we'd do well to ignore him, Ruby (unsurprisingly) walks straight up to the halfling and strikes a conversation. Carrot at first looks interested in meeting us, but as his eyes drift past Ruby and notice Juniper - well, his eyes might as well have popped straight out of his head. He quickly calls out to her, saying it's been a whole forty years. Juniper steps forward, but seems oddly hesitant to talk to him. While they continue talking, the prince invites us all in to sit down, despite the fact that he doesn't know us. Just as I'd expect, this prince is too naive and foolhardy to care at all for the safety of himself or his servants. He continues, saying that such trifles can be forgotten on such a "special" day, and asks us to introduce ourselves.  
Giving no ounce of trust to this highborn or his consorts, I introduce myself as "Sakarias Ventoris" - the latter of which is a common surname of my people. Ellie (wisely) gives a fake name as well, while the rest give their true identity. The Prince tells us that his name is Edmund - and just at that moment, a group of men from Spindlestone enter. I recognize one as Lord Chase - the maliciously entitled one who nearly wounded me with his horse. He appears to recognize us upon sight, but oddly says nothing. Perhaps the visit from Vinnie's stooges had some effect on the man.  
The feast begins, and as one would expect, the nobles all begin talking amongst themselves. The Elven prime minister asks Ko'ruk a rather foolish question about his skin color - to which Ko'ruk makes an appropriately rude reply that I can't care to remember. Various other conversations are going on at once, but the one garnering the most attention at the moment is between the Nordenfjorders, who are arguing over some sort of succession crisis. The both of them support opposing rulers, both claiming that their candidate has the true right to the throne. One of Spindlestone's representatives makes a remark about the human's merit to rule - he says they're the only ones to prove that they can truly get things done. At that, the Queen of the Elves speaks - and her words are ones that I remember quite clearly:  
"If there's anything I know for sure, it is that the Elve's last war was a grave mistake that we must learn from. Diplomacy is - and always will be - the best option."  
After that, I lost attention to the next five minutes of conversation. I came into this palace aware that the Elven Queen would be here - and it was my honest intention to avoid her at all costs (for the possibility that she discovered my history), but what she just said… was the clearest truth I've ever heard from the lips of a noble, let alone the queen herself.  
I can only assume that several more minutes of political arguments ensued, because the Prince has now appearing to grow uncomfortable. He says that it's his birthday - we should be relaxing, enjoying ourselves and having fun. To do so, he challenges anyone willing to a drinking game. Before his name can even escape my mouth, Ko'ruk springs from his chair to accept the challenge. Apparently his kind does not hold liquor as well as their reputation would have me think, because it took not much more than five mugs to have the half-orc tip backwards in his chair. The rest of the night proceeds blandly, as any gluttonous human feast does. Melek, Ko'ruk and I are given the same room to sleep in, and as they doze off on either side of me, I enter into a state of meditation.  
It didn't take longer than two hours for my focus to be broken by a piercing scream. It was no doubt Theresa's - no other would've caused me to shudder so violently. I wake Ko'ruk and Melek, and the three of us head down the main hall, where we encounter Ruby, Ellie and Juniper, who were awoken as well. We split up briefly to search, and as I enter the female bathroom I find a pink piece of torn fabric by the toilet. I call the others - it's definitely a piece from the dress Theresa wore the last time I saw her. If this weren't a favor for Vinnie, I'd be content to let her be and go back to our room. Instead, the party decides to jump down into the sewers to try and find her. Just in case anything else occurs up here, I decide to stay. Crossing my legs on the floor, I resume my trance - anything moving or making noise outside will alert me.  
After what I estimate to be twenty minutes, I awaken to light sound of flapping and hooting coming from down the toilet. As I crane my head to look, some sort of creature comes whizzing up the hole, nearly taking my head with it. As I jerk back, I glance up to see Ruby's Owl, who flaps its wings slowly to settle down on the floor next to me.  
It simply stares at me and tilts its head. If Ruby wished to say something, she could speak through the Owl. I wait, and it continues staring with its abnormally large and unsettling eyes.

I've had enough of looking at the thing. Deciding to ignore it, I turn around to face the door and continue my meditation. As soon as I do so, I can feel something nuzzling at my waist-pouch. The Owl is trying to get the oats I usually feed Johann... It's odd, considering Owls supposedly eat rodents and small birds. After several unsuccessful attempts to shoo the Owl away, I throw the bag outside the door in the hopes that the creature will follow. It works temporarily, giving me five more minutes of meditation before I feel the bird now perching on top of my head. Although it's slightly irritating, I can still go on with my meditation - I just hope the others return soon.  
It's only been about an hour before the Owl starts fidgeting. Meditation was possible when the creature was still, but now it's hopping up and down on my head. Just as I raise my hand in an attempt to swat it off, it flaps its wings and flies to the open window. I don't know what, but its gaze is focused on something moving outside. I close my eyes and curse silently. If the creature suddenly decides to-  
-it did. It just flew outside into the forest outside the palace… but I care not. I assume Ruby has the ability to summon it whenever she wishes. With that, I cross my legs again in an attempt to finally meditate in peace - only to be disrupted as the Owl quickly returns, with what I believe to be a live mouse in its beak. Whether he's going to eat it or not, I don't really care, but-  
-my ears perk as I hear footsteps outside. It's most likely one of the nobles, but I rest a hand on one of my scimitars just in case. It's at this very moment that the Owl drops the mouse onto the floor, and just as it quickly scurries towards the door, a woman rounds the corner and lets out a quite piercing shriek. The mouse continues down the palace pathway as I get a closer look at the woman through the darkness - it's the Elf Queen. She quickly recovers from her recoiled stance and steps towards me as the Owl perches itself upon my head again and starts pecking at my hood. I close my eyes again in an attempt to go back to meditation.  
After several seconds of what I can only assume must have been awkward silence for her, she asks why exactly I'm sitting alone in the women's bathroom. Without opening my eyes again, I simply explain that my friends are sorting something out some potential danger, and that it's none of her concern. When she asks what exactly is going on, I crack one eye back open and reiterate that it's nothing important. It occurs to me then that any royal waking in the middle of the night would be accompanied by servants - but this Queen is completely alone.  
At this point she does something especially strange - she steps even closer and asks me my name. I open both my eyes and stare at her for a moment in confusion. My natural disposition towards any royal is to dislike and distrust them, but I oddly can't bring myself to hate this woman. After a short moment, I give her the name Sakarias. She then gently scratches the head of Ruby's owl and politely asks me if I can leave her to use the bathroom.  
I of course agree, and as as she finishes and leaves, she wishes me luck with whatever "danger" my friends are dealing with. At that I simply nod, and continue my meditation. Or at least try. Such courtesy from a royal (an Elf royal, no doubt) to a complete stranger is something I've never once encountered before. No matter the quality of this new Queen's character, she's simply an exception to the standard noble. Nothing more.  
Now, after an approximate total of three hours since the party descended, my thoughts are quickly interrupted by shouts from below - I crane my neck over the hole to see Juniper with Theresa, both asking me to let them up. I lower the rope and pull them both out - at which point they both quickly wave me out of the room to shower off. After that, Juniper tells me a rather short tale involving fights with leeches, several zombies and a trio of green hags. Honestly, it doesn't sound like I missed much, and when asked if anything occurred up here, I simply say no. The three of us simply wait (loudly, as Theresa is with us) until the sun rises, which is about when the rest of the party returns - through the palace gate, for some reason - and gives Juniper and I news of a rather interesting discovery over breakfast.


	11. Mysteries and Murderers

Mellaris Uldreiyn  
Entry XI  
17th Summer-Eve, 2021 New Reckoning (2/14/2016)

The Prince's life is in danger. During their adventure last night, the rest of the group uncovered a letter including a plot to assassinate him. At the present moment, we sit once again at the long table for breakfast, where 6 nations in total are represented. They are mostly chatting to themselves - like there's nothing at stake here. Of course, they know nothing of the intended killing.  
Across the table from me, Theresa has silenced herself for the very first time since Vinnie introduced her to us. She simply sits with her head down, poking at her food with perplexed eyes. I don't know much of what happened to her underground, but my guess is she's still traumatized by it. No matter what it is that's quieted her - I'll take it. The rest around the table, oddly enough, seem in much better spirits than before. They all speak now of more trivial, noble-like affairs rather than political squabbles. Even the two Njordenfjorders who'd been quarreling without end are now clinking glasses in celebration. The woman Eradne is looking over at me with some sort of interested glance… in response to which I immediately break eye-contact. I want no sort of relations with these nobles. They'd all want nothing more than to further their own gains.  
As "cheery" as everyone may be, the mood hasn't sunk inside myself. If anything, it unsettles me even more. One of these laughing, grinning fools is intent committing murder - we just don't know who.  
My thoughts and observations are quickly shaken as the Prince stands, raising his glass in a toast (to himself, no doubt). He says that everyone should drink up and be merry, for there are many exciting and fulfilling events planned for the day. The first he has in mind is jousting, at which everyone seems interested and excited. It might possibly be fun, if it weren't an activity that made it so easy to kill somebody "accidentally". As long as everyone's gone, however, Ellie whispers to me that this is when we should go looking for any evidence of an assassin. I nod discreetly, only to find out that we were somehow overheard by Ruby and Juniper, who now demand to stay and search with us despite their ridiculous lack of skill and stealth.  
I'll take no chances of being caught and hanged. I move off into the men's quarters by myself - well almost, Ruby forces me to take Labby the Owl - while the other three search the Women's side. The first room I slip inside is that of Knute, one of the Njordenfjorders. I kneel first by the chest at the foot of his bed, but it's tightly sealed with a complicated lock, and I can't get it open. His wardrobe is unguarded, however, and I find nothing but a symbol to one of Njordenfjorden's more forgotten deities. Despite my fierce protest, Ruby orders Labby to snatch one of his silver rings and bring it to her. If he notices that it's missing, we could be suspect - and I let Ruby know that I'll point her out without hesitation.  
The second room I enter belongs to Lord Chase, who I definitely wouldn't be surprised to uncover as the killer. A chest on the floor contains nothing but a large bag of coins, and his wardrobe has only a nice set of clothes and a backpack - inside of which is a small hand crossbow. As much as Ellie might like it, there's no reason for me to take anything here. Checking room individually is taking too long… I don't want to risk anyone coming back while I'm here. I cast detect poison to hopefully find something straight away.  
I can sense a poison coming from another room - the Prince's own quarters. Just as I make for the door, I can hear footsteps around the corner, and so I duck behind a wall just in time to avoid the Elven Prime minister. He simply enters his room, and doesn't seem suspect, but I'll wait for him to come back out nevertheless. He's in there for around ten minutes… when he finally opens the door to leave, I follow close behind him in an attempt to see if he's carrying anything suspicious. Luckily, my boots do well at covering my footsteps as I follow not a foot behind him.  
He's carrying a pair of daggers at his waist, but that's to be expected. That, and they're not poisoned. The only thing worth noting is the few blots of ink on his right fingertips - he's been handling a writing utensil. I stop pursuit to let him go, and duck quickly into his room - on top of a small chest, I see the quill and ink bottle. The chest is locked, but the lock is weak enough for me to pick - with a creak I open the chest to reveal several hand-written letters. Most of them appear to be mere political conversations. As I shuffle through them, I notice one that's dated just yesterday - and it certainly catches my interest. It's written in an Elven code that takes some deciphering, but there wasn't much effort put into it: the Minister knows of an intended assassination, but nothing in the letter indicates that he's involved. The rest of the letters are mostly foreign policies: the Minister has most recently been trying to attain a political advantage in Gabilan… that would explain his presence here.  
With the Prime Minister's room inspected thoroughly, I get back to the Prince's quarters, where I detected the poison. As I slide the door open, I see a figure in the bed. It's a man - an old one, at that. I'd get a closer look if not for the risk of being noticed. Instead, I step quietly past him to inspect the small chest at the side of the room - where I find a bottle of poison. This sets to rest my suspicions, however - this kind of poison is only medicinal. It's for stabilizing a wounded person that's beyond any other healing. Alongside the bottle are several letters: correspondences between the Prince and the Elf Queen. To put it simply, they're love letters - half of them even have lipstick stains. Not that I'm surprised, but I'd thought the Queen to be more wise. She seems to me intelligent and capable on her own - this Prince is quite the opposite.  
But did I forget to mention how little I care? Of course I did, because I don't care. I quickly step out of the room and rendezvous with the others. I tell them of my discoveries - rather, that I've found no sufficiently incriminating evidence. On the other hand, Ruby shows me a poisoned dagger - from the room of the Kronian woman - with a handwritten letter in a language that none of us can read. I doubt it'd be worth the risk to accuse her; so for now, we're going to meet the others in the jousting fields.  
Just as we arrive, Ko'ruk seems to be setting up for a joust against Angus, one of the Njordenfjorders. I move to sit by Melek during the activities, and tell him everything we've found. On the first round Angus gives Ko'ruk a strong hit and insults him (I believe his words had to do with a "wee g'ill"), but Ko'ruk simply scowls and deals him an equally strong blow. On the third round, Ko'ruk strikes again and knocks Angus clean off of his horse. At this, Melek stands, eager to get in on some jousting action. Surprisingly, he challenges the Elven Prime-Minister, who to all of us honestly looks to old to be jousting. Regardless, the Elf doesn't back down - instead, he steps down and mounts a horse, twirling the javelin in his hands with remarkable dexterity. Of course, I'd forgotten - twenty years ago, just about every Elf in Inis Ilyn was required to be educated in some form of combat. The match is short, and Melek gets knocked off of his mount easily. It seems I've misjudged the minister's athletic ability.  
As the jousting matches continue (which many of my friends take part in), I watch the crowds for any suspicious activity, but find absolutely none. In-between matches, I go to discuss the issue with each party member individually, but no one has any ideas. As closely as we've looked, we still have no evidence pointing towards a single person. As we continue throughout the day, however, I overhear talk that there's going to be a banquet tonight. If there's any time for a killer to rear their head… that's it. I'll hold off writing any more until then.

At the banquet, things are going as I would expect of any noble party. It's taking place all throughout the palace - the others are conversing out in the halls, while it's just Ruby and I in the main dining hall with a few of the royals. At the moment we're standing by ourselves, with our attention directed toward the Elf Queen, Elf Minister, Prime Minister (the horned satyr) and the Prince. Ruby and I both agree that we should remain in close proximity to the Prince to prevent an assassination. To do so, we both approach their small group as Ruby quickly (and rather skillfully, I forgot how good she was at pointless noble-talk) strikes up a conversation with the Elf Queen. The Queen takes an interest in Labby - Ruby's Owl - just as she seemed to last night, and the two very quickly head off in another direction as they talk. The Satyr and the Elf minister seem to be having some sort of political conversation to themselves, so I'm stuck having to entertain the Prince on my own.  
Fortunately, I still remember how to feign interest and respect in the presence of nobility, no matter what my real opinions may be. He seems somewhat interested in me, remarking at first how exciting it must be to travel and adventure unhindered with my group of friends. I decide to take what he's given me, offering to tell him several stories of our previous adventures, like the encounter at the Orc's fortresses and the defeat of the Red Dragon. As I speak, I remind myself of my brother, Drahl - he was always a warmer and more respectful, talkative type. He never had any trouble making friends quickly.  
Nevertheless, I manage to keep our conversation going for several minutes. Just as the Prince is beginning to tell me how much he wishes for adventure and excitement, I can hear screams and thuds coming from just outside the dining hall.  
I figured the assassin would show him/herself soon enough. I quickly grab the Prince's arm and urge him to stand behind me as I face the door through which I hear the sounds. He resolutely draws his sword and seems reluctant to follow my command, but eventually obeys and stands just behind my right side. I can detect the sounds coming closer, and I hold a readied arrow nocked to my bow - just as a creature bursts through the door. I can't tell what it is at all - it looks similar to a wraith, but with a completely different shape and more form than a ghost.  
As soon as I catch sight of it, I fire a shot that doesn't appear to damage it too much. The creature targets Labby (who must've flown into the room at some point) but misses, in response to which the Owl blasts the demon with a bolt of lightning. Just as I ready myself for the creature's next attack, cold realization grip me as I hear the Prince cry out in pain. I turn to see him not five feet from me - with a knife in his back. A knife held by the Driad woman. As decisively as I can, I lunge in her direction, forcing her off of the Prince and whisking my scimitars from their sheaths. The Prince is barely able to remain standing, and now I'm the only one between him and his assassin - with a mortally dangerous demon added on the other side.  
The demon's a bigger threat than a woman with a knife. I pivot on my feet, lashing out with both blades at the creature along with the Prince, surprisingly enough. The fire from my Dragon-fang weapons are enough to cause the demon to evaporate. At this point, my reflexes kick in just as I see Ellie tearing forward in my direction. I twist back around and throw myself at the Driad, barely managing to hold her against the wall.  
I'm not in a very pleasant mood at the moment, so I try my best to intimidate her into talking. Apparently that's not my strong point. She remains pridefully silent until Ko'ruk eventually arrives (covered in blood, I might add - there must have been more demons than just the one) and threatens to bend her fingers backwards one by one. That works quite well, and the Driad tells us that she was forced into the job by the Hags. I assume these hags are the same that the party encountered last night while I sat watch. She says she's not the only one working for them, but she's the only one to be found in the palace.  
The guards lead her away as she's told us essentially everything she knows. I glance to the Prince, who's now limping and has to be held by a palace guard. Come to think of it, it makes me wonder where the guards were during that entire battle… now, however, my thoughts are interrupted as more of the nobles are returning to the main room. I see the Elf Queen return with Ruby, and as they emerge, Ellie takes her to the side and whispers some words to her. I don't know what exactly the rogue is plotting, but as soon as the Queen notices the wounded Prince, she breaks loose and runs forward, throwing her arms around him.  
Considering the letters I found in the Prince's chest, it's not surprising. As she finally releases the Prince, he begins babbling something about how he should have decided sooner and so on - and then gets down on one knee. I don't really know what I expected, but for some reason I've an intense feeling of dissatisfaction in my gut. This Queen is the first royal I've seen possess any sort of virtuous qualities, but the Prince… he's just a cocky, inexperienced fool and - to be honest - a bad decision. Regardless, she kisses him in acceptance of the proposal - and I turn my head to see the Elven Prime-Minister storm out of the room, his fists balled.  
As we attend the wedding, the party and I are also called up and given medals - ones that signify our acceptance into the Order of the Lion of Gabilan. As thanks for the protection of the palace (and the saving of his life) the Prince offers our group anything we may ask. Knowing my friends, that's a very dangerous thing to offer. Ellie asks for a ship that we may take for our journey to Kemmet, and Ruby receives a pair of shoes that considerably increase her maximum running speed.  
Just as the rest are getting set to depart, I wish to have only a short word with the Queen. As much as I've attempted to set myself apart from the nation of Inis-Ilyn, our vision of the protests in the capital still plague my mind. I simply ask her what state the government is REALLY in (regardless of what anyone would have me believe), and she says that the Council still wishes to box her out of the decision-making process. She says she deeply wishes to integrate more closely with the mainland - and that her marriage may well help that - but the council's still making it incredibly difficult. With that, I thank her and move to catch up with my group.  
From here, we embark towards Kemmet, where we hope to make progress in destroying the Tears of the Night. I end this entry on the 24th of Summer-Eve.


End file.
